Buyers frame this as register or refuse. That is the wrong pair of options. The real choice is between registering with a record of what is unfinished and registering without one.
Check the sequence the statute assumes
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 runs the handover in a fixed order. The promoter obtains the occupancy certificate, which Section 11(4)(b) makes his responsibility. Section 17(1) then requires the registered conveyance and physical possession, within the period fixed by local law and, in the absence of local law, within three months from the date of issue of the occupancy certificate. Section 17(2) gives him thirty days after that certificate to hand over the documents and plans. Section 19(10) requires the allottee to take physical possession within two months of the occupancy certificate being issued for that unit.
So a builder asking you to register before the occupancy certificate is asking you to move ahead of the sequence the Act sets out. That is not automatically wrong, and it happens for ordinary commercial reasons. But it is the first thing to ask about, because if the answer is that the certificate is not coming, you have a much larger problem than unfinished amenities.
Where you actually stand depends on one fact
- The occupancy certificate has been issued and the amenities are simply incomplete. Register, and record the incomplete items in writing on the same day.
- The occupancy certificate has not been issued and no date is given. Do not register on the strength of an assurance. Ask what is holding it up and get the answer in writing.
- The amenities are declared as a later phase in the registered project. Check the declaration under Section 4(2)(l)(C), which is the promoter's own sworn statement of the period within which he undertakes to complete the project or that phase.
- He wants an unqualified no dues and no claims letter as a condition. That is the point of the exercise, and it is the one thing not to give.
- He is threatening to charge holding or maintenance for the delay. Section 19(6) and (7) fix what an allottee owes and when, and a charge for a period in which possession was not lawfully available is contestable.
What survives registration, and what does not
A good deal survives, and buyers underestimate it. The proviso to Section 11(4)(a) says the promoter's responsibility for a structural defect or any other defect, for the period in Section 14(3), continues even after the conveyance deeds of all the units are executed. Section 14(3) gives you five years from the date of handing over possession to bring a defect in workmanship, quality or provision of services to the promoter's notice, and requires him to rectify it without further charge within thirty days, failing which compensation follows. Section 18(3) makes him liable to compensate where he fails to discharge any other obligation under the Act or the agreement. Section 19(3) preserves the association's right to claim possession of the common areas as declared under Section 4(2).
What does not survive is the practical position. Before registration you are the party who has not yet performed. After it you are an owner asking for something. The withdrawal remedy in Section 18(1), which lets an allottee who wishes to withdraw demand the return of the amount received with interest and compensation, is not a remedy you are going to use once you have taken the flat and moved in. That is the trade.
Builders routinely ask for a possession letter or affidavit saying the purchaser has received the unit in a fully completed condition, is satisfied in all respects, and has no claims of any nature. Sign a possession acknowledgement by all means. Do not sign a satisfaction and no claims declaration. Add, in your own hand where necessary, that possession is taken subject to the annexed list of incomplete and defective items.
What to do on the day
- A dated snag list, itemised and specific, handed over and acknowledged, with photographs
- A written note of the amenities promised in the agreement and the sanctioned plan that are not in place
- The occupancy certificate number and date recited in the deed or in the possession letter
- The declared completion period under Section 4(2)(l)(C), taken from the project page on the Authority's website
- Confirmation that the common areas are being conveyed to the association, as Section 17(1) requires, and not retained
- An email to the promoter the same evening, attaching the list, so the record is not only on his letterhead
- The metered and unmetered utility position, and whether the connections are in the project's name or the promoter's
Where clients ask me for a rule, this is it. Do not use registration as the pressure point, because the pressure runs the other way once limitation and possession are in play and the flat is being paid for out of a loan. Use documentation instead. A registered deed plus a dated, acknowledged list of defects is a far stronger position than an unregistered agreement plus a grievance. What to do when the certificate never comes at all is set out in the occupancy certificate answer, and the difference between the two instruments is explained in the sale agreement and sale deed answer.