What to check before paying a booking amount

Once money moves, your negotiating position changes. These eight checks are in the order we would do them. Each one can stop the deal, so do not skip ahead.

1. Is this exact tower registered?

The registration has to cover the phase and tower you are buying. A number for the township or for an earlier phase does not help you. Use our step-by-step RERA verification guide and save a dated copy of the record.

2. Is the unit identified in writing?

Your booking form should name the unit number, floor, tower, carpet area and balcony area. A form that says “a 3 BHK in the project” leaves the developer free to allot something else. Ask to see the unit marked on the sanctioned floor plan.

3. Is the full price on one signed sheet?

The price is only firm once every charge is on paper. Get a signed cost sheet covering the base price, location charges, parking, deposits, GST and anything else. Then see what each cost sheet line means and question the ones you do not understand.

4. How much is being asked, and is it within the 10% limit?

Section 13 bars a promoter from taking more than 10% of the cost as an advance or application fee before a written, registered agreement for sale. If the demand goes past that, the agreement must come first. As a hypothetical example, on a ₹60 Lakh flat that limit is ₹6 Lakh.

5. What happens if you cancel?

Read the refund terms before paying, not after. Ask three things: how much comes back if you withdraw, how much comes back if your loan is refused, and how soon. Get the answer on the booking form or the application terms. A spoken promise from a salesperson will not help you later.

6. Who receives the money?

The payment should go to the developer’s company account, and preferably the project’s designated account. Section 4 requires 70% of buyer money to go into a separate account for that project. Do not pay cash or transfer to an individual, including an agent. An authorised channel partner never needs your booking money in their own account.

7. Do you have a draft agreement?

Ask for the draft agreement for sale before paying, and read it. Section 13 lists what it must cover, including the payment schedule, the possession date and the interest payable on default by either side. If the developer will not share a draft until after payment, treat that as information about the developer.

8. Can you fund the next payment?

A booking is the start of a payment schedule. Check when the next instalment falls due, and whether your loan will be sanctioned by then. Under Section 19, you owe interest on late payments. If you need a loan, read how home loans work on under-construction flats before committing.

What should you keep after paying?

Keep a small file from the first day. These are the papers you will want if anything goes wrong.

• The bank transfer reference and the developer’s stamped receipt.
• The signed booking form and the signed cost sheet.
• The dated RERA record and the brochure you relied on.
• Any email or message promising something specific.

Section 12 of the Act makes a promoter answerable for false statements in adverts and prospectuses, which is why that brochure belongs in the file.

Lalit works through these points with buyers before any payment, and you can read how that process runs. If you are still choosing, see our current projects and take this list to each one. For Eldeco projects, our Eldeco channel partner page explains how booking works through an authorised partner.