What to check before you pay the token on a Mumbai flat

Why before the token

A token is small next to the price of a flat, but it is usually the point where a buyer stops asking questions. Once money has moved, walking away costs something, and the answers to anything you didn’t check are now the builder’s to give.

The checks below are for a flat in a new or under-construction project in Mumbai. Most take an evening on free official websites. None of them replaces a lawyer’s title search, but each tells you something the brochure won’t, and gives you better questions to ask.

1. Is the project registered with MahaRERA?

Under section 3 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, a project on more than 500 m² of land, or with more than eight apartments, must be registered with the state regulator before it is advertised, booked or sold. In Maharashtra that regulator is MahaRERA, and section 11(2) of the Act requires the registration number on every advertisement.

1. Ask for the registration number. Mumbai numbers look like P51800012345.
2. Search it on maharera.maharashtra.gov.in, under registered projects.
3. Check the registration covers your building. Large projects are often registered in several phases or wings, each with its own number and its own dates.

What it doesn’t tell you: registration is not a quality rating and not a title guarantee. It means the project has filed its details with the regulator.

2. When does MahaRERA say it will be finished, and has that moved?

The project’s MahaRERA page shows the completion date the builder declared, and any extensions since. Compare it with the possession date you are being promised in the sales office. If they differ, ask why, and remember the date that counts is the one written into your agreement for sale.

The same page holds the builder’s regular progress filings: an architect’s certificate of how much of the work is done (Form 1), an engineer’s certificate of the cost incurred (Form 2) and a chartered accountant’s certificate on money drawn from the project account (Form 3). Section 4 of the Act requires 70% of what buyers pay to go into a separate account for that project. Open two or three filings a few months apart: is the percentage complete actually moving?

3. What has this builder delivered before?

Search the promoter’s name on MahaRERA to see its other projects, their declared completion dates and whether they needed extensions. Builders often register each project under a separate company, so search the group’s name as well as the company on your paperwork.

Project pages also list complaints and litigation. A long list of complaints about delayed possession or refunds is worth reading, not just counting. An insolvency case against the company matters most of all, because it can freeze a project for years.

4. What do flats here actually register for?

Listings show what sellers ask. What buyers paid is in registered documents, which the Department of Registration and Stamps publishes through igrmaharashtra.gov.in. Its document search shows registered sales for a village or property number, with the declared price and area.

Read them carefully. A registered price may be for carpet, built-up or super built-up area, and may include parking; listings rarely say which. The ready reckoner rate on the same site is the government’s minimum value for stamp duty, not a market price.

5. What is around the site?

Sample flats are shown near the sales office, which is rarely the whole story. Walk the boundary of the plot, and look at a map for what sits within a kilometre or two: landfills, salt pans, large storm-water drains, highways and old industrial land.

• Flooding. Before each monsoon the BMC identifies the city’s chronic flooding spots. Check whether one lies between the gate and the station you’ll use.
• Air. The CPCB and MPCB run official monitoring stations across Mumbai. Find the nearest and note how far away it is; a station several kilometres off may not reflect your street.
• Travel. Time the trips you’ll make, at the hour you’ll make them. A drive that takes 15 minutes on a Sunday can take much longer at 9 am on a weekday.

For Kanjurmarg East, we have measured this for every project on our map: see buying a flat in Kanjurmarg East.

6. If the building is ready: the occupation certificate

For a completed or nearly completed building, ask for the occupation certificate (OC) issued by the BMC. A part OC can cover some floors or wings and not others, so check that yours is included and read the dates. Without an OC, moving in and getting permanent services can become difficult.

7. Then, the token itself

• The 10% rule. Section 13 of the Act says a promoter cannot take more than 10% of the cost of the flat as an advance or application fee without first entering into a written agreement for sale and registering it.
• Pay by bank transfer, never cash, and get a written receipt naming the flat, the amount, and when the token is refunded if the purchase doesn’t go ahead — for example, if your home loan is refused.
• Title is a lawyer’s job. Ask a property lawyer to check the title and any encumbrances before you sign the agreement for sale. The checks above give you the questions to take to them.

Where The Catch comes in

A Catch Report does checks 1 to 5, and the OC where it applies, for one property: every line sourced, every gap named. It costs ₹1,999 and covers Kanjurmarg East today. It is research, not legal advice.

Sources

• The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016: sections 3, 4, 11 and 13.
• MahaRERA: maharera.maharashtra.gov.in
• Department of Registration and Stamps, Maharashtra: igrmaharashtra.gov.in
• Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC): occupation certificates and the pre-monsoon flooding-spot list.