I Bought the Flat From the Original Allottee Before Possession: Can I Claim the Delay Interest, and From When?

Yes. If you took over the allotment from the first buyer before the flat was handed over, you are what the orders call a subsequent allottee, and Section 2(d) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 makes you an allottee with the same right to delay interest under the proviso to Section 18(1): interest for every month of delay until possession. From when depends on when you came in. If you took over before the completion date in the original agreement for sale had passed, the clock normally starts the day after that date, unless you signed a new date when the builder recorded the transfer. If you took over after that date, the Haryana Real Estate Appellate Tribunal starts the interest only from the day the builder recorded you, and no Karnataka ruling on that question could be found.

Part of the RERA and homebuyer disputes practice at S Jain & Attorneys, Bangalore.

This guide is for a buyer in Karnataka who stepped into an existing allotment with the builder's endorsement or consent, in a project now running late. The rate, the memo and the end date are in the guide on how much delay interest the builder owes, and the checks before buying a resale flat are in the guide on checking RERA registration before you buy.

Three dates decide which row you are in, and each one sits on a document you should already hold.

Am I an allottee if I bought from the first buyer and not from the builder?

Yes. Section 2(d) of the Act defines an allottee as the person to whom the builder allotted, sold or transferred the flat, "and includes the person who subsequently acquires the said allotment through sale, transfer or otherwise", leaving out only a person who holds it on rent. Possession under Section 19(3), a refund under Section 19(4) and interest under Section 18(1) are all rights of the allottee, so each of them is now yours.

The Act says nothing about how an allottee's resale is to be recorded and fixes no transfer fee. The builder's consent, the endorsement on the agreement, the nomination letter and the transfer charge come from your agreement for sale and the builder's own procedure, not from the Act. The only transfer circular on K-RERA's circulars page deals with a promoter handing over a project under Section 15, not with an allottee selling one flat.

K-RERA applied the definition in complaint 855/2024, decided by its Chairman on 11 March 2026. The original allottees had signed in 2014, and the unit was assigned in October 2022 by a deed executed with the builder's consent. The Authority held that once an assignment is executed with the promoter's consent, the assignee becomes an allottee under Section 2(d), that the assignment "does not create a new contract, it transfers the existing one", and that a subsequent purchaser is entitled to the same relief as the original allottee. It also rejected the builder's plea that construction had stalled because of the resale, holding that a transfer of the unit does not absolve the promoter.

I bought before the promised date: from when does a subsequent allottee get delay interest?

From the day after the promised date, because at the moment you became the allottee there was no delay yet to divide between you and the seller. Section 18(1) measures delay against possession "in accordance with the terms of the agreement for sale", and the agreement you inherited is the seller's.

The Haryana orders below are consistent with this. Where the Tribunal gave reasons for starting a buyer's interest at his takeover, the reason was that he bought after the due date had passed, so a buyer who came in before it loses nothing under that rule.

The exception is a new date. In complaint 855/2024 the papers signed at the 2022 assignment fixed completion "on or before 31/05/2023". The buyers claimed from that date. The Authority held that the builder "cannot be held to be in default on the very date fixed for performance", ran the interest from 1 June 2023 and directed it at SBI MCLR plus two percent until the offer of possession.

Key takeaway. Three papers set your start date: the original agreement for sale, the builder's endorsement of or consent to your takeover, and anything signed with it that carries a completion date. Read all three before you agree a price with the seller, because the start date is worth money and the transfer papers can move it.

I bought after the promised date had already passed: do I lose the earlier months?

On the line the Haryana Real Estate Appellate Tribunal has followed since at least 2022, yes, and Haryana calls this interest delay possession charges. In Appeal 609 of 2019, decided on 19 December 2022 in an appeal by Emaar MGF Land, the buyers had bought in resale in April 2017, six years after the 2011 due date. Because they came in after the due date, the Tribunal ran their charges from the builder's nomination letter of 13 April 2017 instead of the due date the Authority had used. In Appeal 357 of 2025, decided on 15 July 2025, it refused buyers who had purchased "much after expiry of due date of possession" any charges before their 2019 endorsement, calling the law well settled. In Appeal 761 of 2025, decided on 10 July 2026, it held the subsequent allottees before it entitled to charges "only from the date on which they stepped into shoes of the original allottees", the date of the nomination letter.

The 2022 order applied the Supreme Court's ruling in Laureate Buildwell, decided on 22 July 2021 under the old consumer law. The Court held that the per se bar to interest on a refund for a later purchaser, drawn from a 2008 ruling involving the Haryana Urban Development Authority and applied in a 2020 case against DLF Southern Homes, "cannot be considered good law". A purchaser who enters the picture later "surely belongs to the same class" as the buyers still waiting for their flats, and while it is fair to assume he knew of the delay, assuming he knew it would continue indefinitely "would not be justified". The extent of relief, the Court said, depends on the facts.

Karnataka has no ruling on this point that this guide could find, at K-RERA or at the Karnataka Real Estate Appellate Tribunal. The argument for the earlier months sits in the reasoning of complaint 855/2024, where the Authority said the delay "is not confined to the period post-assignment, but is a continuing breach originating from the initial Agreement of Sale", and that a builder who recognised the assignment cannot bifurcate liability. But the buyers there had claimed only from the date in their assignment papers, so the Authority did not have to decide whether a late buyer can reach back. A Haryana order does not bind K-RERA, so in Karnataka this is still an argument, not a rule.

Is the interest on the whole price paid for the flat, or only on what I paid?

On the whole price the builder received for the flat, on the Karnataka order. In complaint 855/2024 the original allottees had paid about Rs 3.21 crore and the buyers only Rs 10 lakh more after the assignment. The builder argued that the original allottees had already benefited from the resale, that it had waived a transfer charge of Rs 8 lakh, and that interest should be paid only on the Rs 10 lakh and for a limited period. The Authority rejected the argument: "The liability of the promoter is with respect to the entire consideration received for the unit, and not merely the amount subsequently paid by the assignee." Interest was directed on the full consideration, about Rs 3.31 crore.

The premium you paid the seller is a different matter. The buyers there had paid the original allottees about Rs 4.77 crore, yet the interest ran only on what the builder had received. The rate and the memo are set out in the delay interest calculation guide.

Who keeps the interest for the months before I bought, me or the seller?

Nothing in the Act says, and none of the orders read for this guide decides a seller's claim after a transfer. If you came in after the promised date, the Haryana line treats the earlier months as not yours, but whether the seller can still pursue them after leaving the builder's books is open.

So settle it in the papers. In complaint 855/2024 the assignment deed transferred all the original allottees' rights, "including right to possession, right to compensation and right to enforce delay", and K-RERA relied on those words. A deed that transfers the accrued claim gives you the argument, one that is silent leaves it to be fought over, and one in which the seller keeps it means you should not claim those months at all. Watch the builder's own forms too. In Laureate Buildwell the builder argued that an undertaking the buyer had signed at the transfer, read with a clause of the agreement, waived any claim for delay, and the Supreme Court still granted interest from the date the builder was told of the transfer.

Common mistake. Signing the builder's transfer pack on the day the transfer is recorded without reading it. A fresh completion date in it is the kind of date K-RERA ran the interest from in March 2026, and a clause in which you accept the delay to date is the first thing the builder will produce. If you must sign, add a line that the transfer does not revise the possession date or waive interest under Section 18, and email it to the builder the same day.

Four holdings carry most of the argument on either side.

Can I take a refund instead, and from when does the refund interest run?

Yes. Section 18(1)(a) obliges a promoter who fails to give possession in accordance with the agreement to return the amount received, with interest, on demand where the allottee wishes to withdraw, and Section 19(4) gives the allottee the matching right. In Newtech Promoters, decided on 11 November 2021, the Supreme Court called this "an unconditional absolute right to the allottee" if the promoter fails to give possession within the time stipulated in the agreement, regardless of unforeseen events or stay orders not attributable to the allottee. Nothing in that right turns on whether you bought from the builder or from the first buyer.

The start date for the refund interest is where a transferee meets resistance. Section 2(za) runs the promoter's interest from the date the promoter received each amount, and much of that money came from the seller. In Laureate Buildwell the Supreme Court replaced a Commission order running interest from each deposit with 9 percent from the date the builder acquired knowledge of the transfer, or acknowledged it, which on the facts was April 2016, when the buyer told the builder. No K-RERA order on a transferee's refund was found for this guide, so expect the same argument there. If the builder has instead cancelled the allotment for missed instalments, the forfeiture rules are in the guide on cancellation and forfeiture.

How do I claim as a transferee at K-RERA, and which papers prove my date?

Build the claim on the builder's own paper, then file.

1. Get the builder's record of your takeover: the endorsement on the agreement for sale, the nomination or consent letter, or the assignment deed signed with the builder's consent, and note its date.
2. Ask the builder for a statement of account showing every amount received for the flat, from the first buyer and from you, with dates.
3. Pull out anything signed at the transfer that carries a completion date, and compare it with the date in the original agreement.
4. Work out your start date from those three papers and write to the builder claiming interest under the proviso to Section 18(1), with a memo of calculation.
5. If the builder does not pay, file a complaint under Section 31 with K-RERA, attaching the original agreement, the transfer papers, the statement of account and the memo, and explain in the complaint why your start date is the right one.

The files that go wrong here rarely go wrong on the law. The buyer holds a sale agreement with the seller and a stack of receipts in the seller's name, but not the builder's endorsement, so nobody can say which date the builder treats as the takeover. Or the endorsement came with a fresh completion date that was signed on the same visit, and that is the date the Authority is likely to start from. Or the memo is built only on the money the buyer paid after the transfer, which concedes the very point K-RERA decided the other way in March 2026. Collect the builder's papers first, decide which of the three dates you are arguing for, and only then put a figure on the claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate for advice on your specific situation.

Related Guides

The firm's RERA and homebuyer disputes practice handles K-RERA complaints for allottees, including buyers who took over an allotment, and the property and real estate law practice covers the transfer documents themselves.

• The Sales Office Says 'RERA Approved': How to Check RERA Registration Before Buying a Flat or Plot in Karnataka
• How Much Delay Interest Does the Builder Owe Me? The K-RERA Calculation at SBI MCLR Plus Two Percent
• The Builder Has Cancelled My Booking for Missed Instalments and Is Forfeiting My Money: What Can I Recover?