When a builder is admitted into a corporate insolvency resolution process, a homebuyer's first move is not a petition and not a hearing. It is Form CA, the claim form for financial creditors in a class, filed with the interim resolution professional by the date named in the public announcement. That date is short, the filing must be electronic, and the form asks you to do one thing most allottees do not realise they are doing: choose the person who will cast your vote for you.
Part of the RERA and homebuyer disputes practice at S Jain & Attorneys, Bangalore.
This guide covers the mechanics. What Form CA asks, where the deadline comes from, how the authorised representative works, and why an allottee who stays silent still has a vote cast on their behalf. Whether a homebuyer is a financial creditor at all, and how the moratorium affects a pending RERA or consumer case, are covered in our separate guides linked at the end.
Why an allottee gets to file at all
The right comes from the definition of financial debt. The Explanation to Section 5(8)(f) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 provides that any amount raised from an allottee under a real estate project shall be deemed to be an amount having the commercial effect of a borrowing, and that the expressions allottee and real estate project carry the meanings given to them under the real estate legislation.
The consequence is that money you paid towards a flat is treated as a financial debt, and you are a financial creditor rather than a mere customer. That is what puts you inside the committee of creditors process instead of outside it.
Key takeaway. An allottee is a financial creditor by statutory deeming, not by argument. But the status is worth nothing unless the claim is actually filed with the resolution professional in the right form and in time.
The public announcement is the starting gun
Everything runs off Form A, the public announcement made under Regulation 6 of the corporate insolvency resolution process regulations. It is published when the tribunal admits the company, and it carries the particulars that matter to you.
Entry 11 gives the last date for submission of claims. The form itself fixes that date as fourteen days from the appointment of the interim resolution professional. Entry 12 names the classes of creditors ascertained under clause (b) of sub-section (6A) of Section 21, and homebuyers in a project are normally such a class. Entry 13 lists three insolvency professionals identified to act as authorised representative of the class. Entry 14 gives the web link and physical address where the forms and the details of the authorised representatives can be found.
The announcement also states, in terms, that financial creditors shall submit their claims with proof by electronic means only. Other creditors may file in person or by post. An allottee posting a physical claim has not filed correctly.
Fourteen days
Form A fixes the last date for claims as fourteen days from the appointment of the interim resolution professional. Watch the announcement, not the admission order.
Electronic only
The public announcement requires financial creditors to submit claims with proof by electronic means only. Post and hand delivery are for other creditors.
Three names
Entry 13 lists three insolvency professionals for the class. You pick one in Form CA, and that choice decides who votes for you.
What Form CA actually asks for
Form CA is headed Submission of Claim by Financial Creditors in a Class and is filed under Regulation 8A. It is addressed to the interim resolution professional or resolution professional at the address in the public announcement, and it asks for eleven particulars.
| Entry | What it asks | What an allottee should put |
|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | Name and identification number of the financial creditor | Your name as it appears on the allotment, with PAN, passport, Aadhaar or the Election Commission identity card |
| 3 | Address and email for correspondence | An address you will actually monitor for the length of the process |
| 4 | Total amount of claim in rupees | Every rupee paid to the builder, not the price of the flat |
| 5 and 6 | Documents substantiating the debt, and how and when it was incurred | Allotment letter, builder buyer agreement, receipts, bank statements, loan disbursement letters |
| 7 | Mutual credits, debts or dealings that may be set off | Any amount the builder says you still owe, disclosed rather than hidden |
| 8 | Security held, its value and the date given | Usually none for an allottee, but say so rather than leaving it blank |
| 9 | Bank account for any payment under a resolution plan | An operative account with correct IFSC details |
| 10 | List of documents attached | An index matching what you actually upload |
| 11 | Name of the insolvency professional to act as authorised representative | One of the three names at entry 13 of the public announcement |
The form is followed by a declaration in which you state that the corporate debtor was indebted to you in the stated sum as at the insolvency commencement date, list the documents relied on, and confirm that they are true, valid and genuine and that no material facts have been concealed.
Entry 11 is the one people skip
Entry 11 looks administrative. It is the most consequential line on the form. Where creditors in a class exceed the specified number, the committee of creditors includes an authorised representative for that class, and the public announcement offers three insolvency professionals to choose from. Your choice is expressed in Form CA.
The regulations take that choice seriously enough to police it. The written consent an insolvency professional gives before being named as a potential authorised representative includes an undertaking that he shall not canvass with the creditors to indicate their choice in his favour in Form CA. If you are approached by anyone soliciting your nomination, that is worth recording.
Common mistake. Leaving entry 11 blank because the three names mean nothing to you. The class still gets a representative, and you will have had no say in who speaks and votes for several years of your money.
You do not vote. Your representative votes.
This is the part allottees find hardest to accept, and it is worth stating precisely. Under Section 25A(3A) of the Code, the authorised representative appointed under sub-section (6A) of Section 21 shall cast his vote on behalf of all the financial creditors he represents, in accordance with the decision taken by a vote of more than fifty per cent of the voting share of the financial creditors he represents who have cast their vote.
Read that carefully. The representative casts a single block vote for the whole class. The direction of that block vote is decided by a majority of those members of the class who actually voted. Members who do not vote do not hold their share back. They simply drop out of the count, and the block moves in whichever direction the participating majority chose.
The practical effect in a large project is that a determined minority of allottees who vote on every agenda item can steer the entire class. Homebuyers who treat the emails from the authorised representative as noise are, in substance, handing their voting share to the neighbours who read them.
One block vote
The authorised representative casts a single vote for the whole class on each agenda item, not a separate vote for each allottee.
Silence is not neutral
Only those who cast a vote are counted in the majority that directs the block. Not voting removes you from the calculation entirely.
False claims bite
The public announcement warns in terms that submission of false or misleading proofs of claim shall attract penalties. Inflate nothing.
Building the claim so it survives verification
A claim is verified by the resolution professional against the records of the company, and the commonest reason an allottee's number is cut down is that the paperwork proves less than the person remembers paying. Assemble it in this order.
- Every payment receipt from the builder, in date order, cross-checked against your bank statements so the total in entry 4 can be traced rupee by rupee.
- The allotment letter and the builder buyer agreement, which establish that you are an allottee in a real estate project rather than an investor with a private arrangement.
- Home loan documents, because disbursements made by a bank directly to the builder are part of the amount raised from you and are frequently left out of claims.
- Any registered agreement to sell, and the stamp duty paid, which corroborates both the transaction and its value.
- Anything already filed before a real estate authority or a consumer forum, including orders, because they record admitted amounts.
- An index that matches entry 10, so the resolution professional can tie each figure to a document without correspondence.
The single most useful discipline is to claim only what you can document. An allottee who claims a rounded figure and produces receipts for less invites the whole claim to be treated with suspicion, and the declaration you sign is not a formality.
Your number is frozen at the commencement date
The declaration in Form CA is specific about the moment being measured. You declare that the corporate debtor was, at the insolvency commencement date, actually indebted to you for the sum claimed. That is the date the tribunal admitted the company, and it is the cut off for what the claim captures.
The practical consequences catch people out. Interest, penalty or compensation awarded by a real estate authority or a consumer forum before that date forms part of what you were owed on the date and should be claimed with the order that granted it. Amounts that accrue afterwards are dealt with differently and are not simply added to the figure in entry 4. So the work of assembling documents is really the work of proving one number as it stood on one particular day.
If you have missed the date
Missing the date in the public announcement is common and is not automatically the end. Claims received after the last date can still be dealt with by the resolution professional, and there is a further window within which a late claim may be considered before the process moves on. What you should not do is assume that filing very late is equivalent to filing on time, because a claim that arrives after the committee is constituted and the plan process has advanced can be admitted for value while your ability to influence anything has already gone. Treat the announced date as real and file within it.
What Form CA does not do
Filing does not decide whether you get your flat, your refund or a haircut. It gets you counted, admitted for a verified amount, and represented in the committee that considers resolution plans. The separate questions of whether your consumer or real estate proceedings survive the moratorium, and whether promoters remain personally answerable, are governed by different provisions and by a distinct line of case law, which our builder insolvency guide addresses in detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Form CA and who files it?
It is the form for submission of a claim by financial creditors in a class, filed under Regulation 8A of the corporate insolvency resolution process regulations. Homebuyers and allottees in a project are ordinarily such a class, so it is their form rather than Form C, which is for financial creditors generally.
When is the deadline?
The public announcement in Form A fixes it as fourteen days from the appointment of the interim resolution professional. Because the announcement is published shortly after admission, the practical window is short and it does not wait for you to hear about it informally.
Can I post my claim or hand it over?
Not as a financial creditor. The public announcement states that financial creditors shall submit claims with proof by electronic means only. Other categories of creditor may file in person or by post.
How much do I claim, the amount paid or the flat's value?
The amount raised from you, which is what you have actually paid, including bank disbursements made on your behalf. The current market value of the flat is not the claim, though your agreement remains relevant to what a resolution plan may offer.
Who is the authorised representative and can I change them?
An insolvency professional chosen from the three named in the public announcement, who sits in the committee for the whole class. You express your choice in Form CA. Replacing a representative afterwards is possible but is a formal process, so the initial choice is worth making deliberately.
Do I get to vote on the resolution plan myself?
No. Your representative casts one vote for the entire class, directed by a majority of more than fifty per cent of the voting share of those class members who actually voted. Your influence is exercised by voting when the representative seeks instructions.
What if my claim is admitted for less than I claimed?
The resolution professional verifies claims against the company's records and determines the amount. If the admitted figure is wrong, take it up promptly with supporting documents, and if it is not corrected the tribunal can be approached. Delay makes it considerably harder once the plan process has advanced.
Should I still pursue my RERA or consumer case?
That depends on the moratorium and on who the respondents are, which is a separate question from filing the claim. File the claim regardless, because the two do not substitute for each other, and take advice on the pending proceedings.
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate for advice on your specific situation.
