If your agreement for sale with the builder was never registered, the flat is as safe, and as unsafe, as it was the day you signed, because an agreement for sale never made the flat yours: under Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act a flat passes only by a registered sale deed. Section 23 of the Registration Act, 1908 requires presentation within four months of execution, Section 25 allows four months more on a fine of up to ten times the registration fee, and after that no Sub-Registrar can take the document. On 4 August 2026 the Karnataka Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (K-REAT) set aside a K-RERA direction to register agreements executed in 2022-23 for that reason, among others. The fix is a fresh agreement in the prescribed form, on the old terms, presented within four months of its new signatures, and the unregistered agreement still proves your contract before K-RERA and in a builder insolvency.
Part of the RERA and homebuyer disputes practice at S Jain & Attorneys, Bangalore.
This guide is for a buyer in a Karnataka project who signed in 2023 or 2024, paid about ten percent, and holds an agreement nobody presented in time. The 20 percent demand before any agreement is signed has its own guide, as does the claim in a builder's CIRP.
| Time since you signed | What the Registration Act allows | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Up to four months | Present it to the Sub-Registrar, both sides appearing (Sections 23 and 34) | Book the Kaveri slot now |
| Four to eight months | The Registrar may direct acceptance for urgent necessity or unavoidable accident, on a fine of up to ten times the fee (Section 25) | Apply through the Sub-Registrar at once |
| Over eight months, so every 2023 and 2024 agreement | No officer can accept it, and paying duty and penalty gives no right to registration | Keep the original and get a fresh agreement |
| Occupancy certificate issued | The sale deed is due within three months of it where no local law fixes a period (proviso to Section 17(1), RERA Act) | Press for the sale deed, not the agreement |
Three numbers run through what follows.
Four months, then four more
Section 23 gives four months from execution and Section 25 another four on a fine of up to ten times the fee. After that no officer can accept the document.
Title moves by sale deed
An agreement for sale creates no right in the flat, registered or not. Only a registered sale deed under Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act makes it yours.
Ten percent is the line
Section 13(1) bars a promoter from taking more than ten percent of the cost without a registered agreement. Buyers below the line could not insist on registration in August 2026.
What does the four-month rule do to my signed agreement?
It makes the document you hold unregistrable, not void. Section 23 of the Registration Act, 1908 says that no document other than a will "shall be accepted for registration unless presented for that purpose to the proper officer within four months from the date of its execution". Section 25 is the only extension: for "urgent necessity or unavoidable accident" the Registrar may direct acceptance where the delay does not exceed a further four months, on a fine of up to ten times the registration fee. Both sections are explained in the guide on a rectification deed the builder will not sign.
For a 2023 or 2024 agreement every window closed long ago, and the Sub-Registrar who turns it away is applying the Act. Paying stamp duty and penalty does not reopen the window: on 2 July 2025 the Karnataka High Court, in W.P. No. 12191/2019, set aside an order sending a 1982 partition document for registration after duty and penalty were paid, holding that payment "would not confer any right on the party to seek registration" of the document.
Section 17(2)(v) keeps a document "merely creating a right to obtain another document" out of compulsory registration, save for the Section 53A purpose below, and the agreement created no interest in the flat either way. What made registration matter was Section 13 of the RERA Act.
Can the builder or K-RERA still get the old agreement registered?
No. That is the answer of the Tribunal in Sobha Ltd v Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Appeals (K-REAT) 81/2025 and 102/2025, decided on 4 August 2026. Allottees of the Sobha Sentosa project in Bengaluru had complained to K-RERA, among other things, that agreements for sale executed in 2022-23 were never registered, and K-RERA, by a judgment of 10 June 2025 in Complaint No. 00494/2024, had directed the builder "to execute and register the Agreement for sale" with every complainant within 30 days "in accordance with Section 13 of the Act". The builder appealed against that direction alone, saying the agreement was time-barred under Section 23, the Sub-Registrar had refused it, the buyers had paid less than ten percent, and a sale deed was on offer since the occupancy certificate had issued on 3 December 2024.
The Tribunal agreed. "In view of the statutory bar contained in section 23 of the Registration Act, the Promoter cannot compel the Sub-Registrar to register an Agreement to Sell, if it is presented beyond the period prescribed under the said Act." An agreement for sale "is merely an executory contract and by itself, does not create any right, title or interest in the immovable property", so where the builder is ready to execute a registered sale deed, "insistence upon prior registration of the agreement to sell serves no substantive purpose". The buyers had paid only 9.81 percent, so the direction was also "contrary to the provisions of Section 13 of the RERA Act". Direction (iii) was set aside and the buyers' cross-appeal dismissed, with a holding that authenticated emails are written consent under Section 14(2)(ii).
The buyers had cited a Bombay High Court decision and MahaREAT rulings as treating registration under Section 13 as mandatory. The Tribunal did not call them wrong but found no merit in the argument on these facts: a buyer below the ten percent line could not insist, and a time-barred document cannot be forced on the Sub-Registrar by anyone. It did not say that a buyer who paid more than ten percent has no remedy, and it was not asked whether K-RERA can direct a fresh agreement. Our reading, with no Karnataka ruling found, is that such a direction remains open under Section 37, which makes the Authority's directions "binding on all concerned", because nothing in the Registration Act bars a new instrument. At ten percent or less, expect the same answer for a fresh agreement: Section 13 gave a buyer at 9.81 percent no right to insist.
Key takeaway. Nobody, not the builder, not K-RERA and not a court, can put a 2023 agreement through the Sub-Registrar's door now. The question is how to carry the same bargain into a new agreement without losing the old terms.
Is a fresh agreement the fix, and what must it keep?
Yes, and its four months run from the day it is signed. Section 13(1) of the RERA Act makes the promoter enter into a written agreement for sale and "register the said agreement for sale, under any law for the time being in force" before taking more than ten percent, and Section 13(2) fixes its contents, from the specifications and payment dates to the possession date and the default interest. The Karnataka Rules carry the form as Annexure A, a condition of every registration certificate, and K-RERA publishes it as a proforma whose Schedule C allows "not more than 10% unless Agreement is registered".
The new document must keep everything agreed in 2023 or 2024: the same total price, payment plan, specifications and possession date, and a recital of every rupee already paid. Interest for delay under Section 18 runs from the possession date in the agreement, so a new date is a free extension for the builder. A dropped specification is a change the builder could not make under Section 14 without your previous consent, and a fresh agreement that omits it is that consent in disguise. A further reason comes from the Supreme Court's September 2025 judgment: departure from the RERA model agreement is one of its indicators of a speculative rather than a genuine buyer.
Common mistake. Signing the fresh agreement with today's date in the possession clause because it is "only a formality for the Sub-Registrar". That date is where your delay interest starts, and a builder whose first agreement lapsed should not gain two years from the second.
Does the unregistered agreement still protect me at K-RERA and in a builder insolvency?
Yes, because neither forum asks whether the agreement was registered. Under Section 2(d) of the RERA Act you are an "allottee" because the apartment "has been allotted" to you, and Section 31 lets any aggrieved person complain. The buyers in the August 2026 case held unregistered agreements and were heard on the merits by K-RERA and the Tribunal. The proviso to Section 49 of the Registration Act lets an unregistered agreement be received "as evidence of a contract in a suit for specific performance", the ground covered in the guide on a seller who refuses to register after an advance. What you lack is the shield of Section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act if you are ever let into possession under the agreement, which Section 17(1A) denies to an unregistered contract, and an entry in the encumbrance certificate, as the guide on viewing an encumbrance certificate online explains.
In a builder insolvency your position rests on the money, not the paper. The Explanation to Section 5(8)(f) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code deems "any amount raised from an allottee under a real estate project" to have the commercial effect of a borrowing and takes "allottee" from Section 2(d) of the RERA Act, so you file as a financial creditor in Form CA, and the claim is the money that actually left your account, not the flat's value and never an unpaid demand. The Supreme Court's judgment of 12 September 2025 in Civil Appeal No. 3826 of 2020, 2025 INSC 1110, separated genuine homebuyers from speculative investors by buy-back and assured-return terms, the intention to take possession, the number of units and departure from the model agreement, and added that the distinction "is relevant only at the stage of initiation", that such allottees "are not barred from filing claims for the principal amount invested", and that RERA "remains the primary forum" for homebuyers. Registration is not among its indicators, so on our reading a buyer with a 2023 agreement on the model form and ten percent paid stands on the genuine side of that line.
Who pays the stamp duty and the registration fee again?
Duty is charged on each instrument, so a fresh agreement carries fresh duty at a higher rate. Article 5(e)(ii) of the Schedule to the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 charges an agreement for the sale of immovable property where possession is not delivered at fifty paise for every hundred rupees of the consideration, with a floor of Rs 500 and no ceiling, since the Karnataka Stamp (Amendment) Act, 2023, Karnataka Act 4 of 2024, took effect on 3 February 2024. Before that the entry read "ten paise for every one hundred rupees or part thereof" with a ceiling of Rs 20,000, as a Karnataka High Court order of 17 March 2025 records. The registration fee comes from the State's Table of Fees under Section 78 of the Registration Act, last revised in part with effect from 31 August 2025.
Who bears it is a matter of the agreement and of fault. Section 19(6) of the RERA Act makes the allottee pay "the share of the registration charges" as the agreement provides. Where the agreement put registration on the builder, or he took more than ten percent, his failure to present the signed copies breached an obligation under the agreement or the Act, and Section 18(3) makes him liable to compensate, through Form O before the adjudicating officer under Rule 30(1) of the Karnataka Rules, fee Rs 1,000. At ten percent or less, with no such clause, the Tribunal's reading imposes no duty to register. No order on that point was found at the time of writing, so plead it as a claim, not a settled entitlement.
What should I do now, and how long does each step take?
Fix the dates first, then get the fresh paper, and pay nothing beyond ten percent until it is registered.
- Find the date each side signed the old agreement and count four months from it. Keep the original.
- Check the K-RERA portal for the project's registration validity and occupancy certificate. If the certificate has issued, ask for the sale deed, due within three months of it under the proviso to Section 17(1).
- Write to the builder for a fresh agreement in the Annexure A form on the original price, payment plan, specifications and possession date, reciting every payment made, to be executed and presented within thirty days, with no further payment before registration.
- Compare the draft clause by clause with the old agreement and reject every changed date, figure or specification in writing.
- Book the Kaveri slot, pay the duty and fee, appear with the builder's signatory, and collect the registered copy, all inside four months of the new signatures.
- If the builder refuses or the thirty days pass, file Form N before the Authority under Rule 29(1), fee Rs 1,000, for a direction under Section 37 to execute and register a fresh agreement in the prescribed form, with Form O for the extra duty and fee if the lapse was his. Enforcement is in the guide on executing a RERA order in Karnataka.
- If the builder is already in insolvency, file Form CA for the money actually paid, and read the guide on possession and registration during the builder's insolvency first.
A K-RERA complaint usually takes several months to a year. Treat every figure except the four months as indicative.
Where do buyers in this position go wrong?
In our practice the buyer who loses ground is rarely the one who did nothing. He pays the next instalment "to keep the flat" before any registered agreement exists, and crosses the ten percent line. He signs the replacement agreement the builder sends, with a new possession date, and his delay-interest claim starts two years late. Or, with the occupancy certificate already out, he spends months fighting for an agreement when the sale deed ends the argument. Keep the old agreement, refuse the new date, hold the next payment, and put every request in writing with a date for compliance.
Four figures to keep in view.
Nine point eight one percent
The buyers in the August 2026 case had paid 9.81 percent, so they could not insist on registration under Section 13. The next payment takes you across that line.
Fifty paise per hundred
Since 3 February 2024 an agreement for sale without possession carries duty of fifty paise per hundred rupees of the consideration, with a Rs 500 floor and no ceiling.
Fresh paper, old terms
The new agreement must carry the 2023 or 2024 price, payment plan, specifications and possession date, and recite every payment already made.
Money paid is the claim
In a builder insolvency the claim is the money that left your account, filed as a financial creditor in Form CA, not the flat's value or any unpaid demand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I pay a penalty and register my 2023 agreement now?
No. Section 25 lets the Registrar accept a document on a fine only where the delay beyond the four months does not exceed a further four months, so the outer limit is eight months from signing. The Karnataka High Court held on 2 July 2025 that paying stamp duty and penalty confers no right to register a document presented after the window.
Does the unregistered agreement mean the flat is not legally mine?
The flat was never legally yours under the agreement, registered or not. An agreement for sale creates no interest in immovable property, and title passes only by a registered sale deed under Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act. What the agreement gives you is a contract the builder must perform, and that contract survives non-registration.
The builder says the old agreement is invalid because it was not registered and I must sign at today's price. Is that right?
No. Non-registration costs you the Section 53A shield, under Section 17(1A), and the document's use as evidence beyond what the proviso to Section 49 allows. It does not cancel the contract. Section 11(5) allows a promoter to cancel an allotment only in terms of the agreement for sale, and the price in your agreement is a term of that agreement. Refuse the new price in writing and complain under Section 31 if he insists.
Can K-RERA order the builder to sign a fresh agreement?
The Tribunal set aside a direction to register the old, time-barred agreement and was not asked about a fresh one. Section 37 lets the Authority issue directions to promoters that are binding on all concerned, and nothing in the Registration Act bars a new instrument, so ask for that direction in those words. No Karnataka order on the point was found at the time of writing, so treat it as an open argument, and at ten percent or less expect the Tribunal's Section 13 answer to meet a fresh agreement as it met the old one.
I have paid exactly ten percent. Does Section 13 help me?
Section 13(1) bars the promoter from accepting more than ten percent without a written and registered agreement, and the Tribunal read it as giving no right to insist to buyers who had paid 9.81 percent. At ten percent you sit on the line. Accepting the next instalment without a registered agreement puts the builder in breach of Section 13(1), so do not pay it until the fresh agreement is registered.
The occupancy certificate has been issued. Should I still register an agreement for sale?
No. The Tribunal held that where the promoter is ready to execute a registered sale deed, insisting on prior registration of the agreement serves no substantive purpose. The proviso to Section 17(1) requires the conveyance within three months of the occupancy certificate where no local law fixes a period, so ask for the sale deed with every agreed term carried into it.
What stamp duty will the fresh agreement carry in Karnataka?
Fifty paise for every hundred rupees of the consideration under Article 5(e)(ii) of the Schedule to the Karnataka Stamp Act, with a floor of Rs 500 and no ceiling, under the amendment in force since 3 February 2024, so a flat priced at Rs 80 lakh carries Rs 40,000 where a 2023 agreement carried Rs 8,000 at the old rate. The registration fee is charged separately under the Table of Fees, last revised in part from 31 August 2025.
My builder is in CIRP. Does my unregistered agreement count for a claim?
Yes. The Explanation to Section 5(8)(f) of the Code treats any amount raised from an allottee under a real estate project as a financial debt, and allottee takes its RERA meaning, which turns on allotment, not registration. File Form CA for the money actually paid, as the guide on Form F and Form CA explains. The Supreme Court's indicators of a speculative investor concern buy-backs, assured returns and departures from the model agreement, not whether the agreement reached the Sub-Registrar.
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate for advice on your specific situation.
