Corpus, maintenance deposit and other charges at possession: what's in the agreement

Rules and rates as of 16 October 2026.

The possession letter usually arrives with a second page: a demand. Beyond the last instalment of the price, it may list advance maintenance, a corpus or sinking fund, electricity and water connection charges, society formation fees and legal charges. Some of this money is the builder's. Some is only held by the builder for the residents' association. Some goes to a utility or the state. Knowing which is which tells you what to question and what to track later.

What the RERA Act says, and what it leaves to the agreement

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 does not list possession-time charges or cap them. It sets the frame, and leaves the amounts to your registered agreement for sale.

• Section 19(6) makes you responsible for paying "in the manner and within the time" set out in the agreement, including your share of registration charges, municipal taxes, water and electricity charges, maintenance charges, ground rent "and other charges, if any". Section 19(7) adds interest, at the prescribed rate, if you pay late.
• Section 11(4)(d) makes the builder responsible for providing and maintaining essential services, "on reasonable charges", until the association of allottees takes over maintenance.
• Section 11(4)(g) makes the builder pay all outgoings it has collected from buyers (land cost, ground rent, municipal taxes, water and electricity charges, maintenance charges, mortgage loans and interest) until it transfers physical possession. Its proviso says that if the builder fails to pay these before handing over, it stays liable even after the transfer, along with any penal charges.
• Sections 11(4)(e) and 19(9) require the builder to enable, and you to take part in, forming an association or society of allottees. Section 17 requires the builder to convey title and hand over common areas and documents to that association.

The practical reading: a charge you are asked to pay should trace back to a clause in your registered agreement. If it does not, ask in writing which clause allows it.

The usual charges, and who ends up with the money

Charge	Who keeps it	What the law says
Last instalment of the price	Builder	Payable as the agreement's schedule says (s.19(6)); late payment attracts interest (s.19(7))
Advance maintenance (often a year)	Builder while it runs the services; any unspent balance belongs to residents	Builder maintains services "on reasonable charges" until the association takes over (s.11(4)(d)); maintenance you pay is an outgoing the builder must actually pay (s.11(4)(g))
Corpus, sinking fund or maintenance security	Held for the association	Not named in the Act; set by the agreement. Telangana RERA has ordered a builder to hand over a corpus with interest (below)
Electricity, water connection and meter deposits	Utility or local body, via the builder	Your share of water and electricity charges is payable (s.19(6)); the builder must pay over what it collects (s.11(4)(g))
Society formation, share money, legal fees	Association, or lawyer for documentation	Builder must enable the association (s.11(4)(e)); you must take part (s.19(9))
Stamp duty and registration on conveyance	State government	Your share of registration charges is payable (s.19(6)); builder must execute the conveyance (s.11(4)(f), s.17)
"Holding" charges for delay in taking possession	Disputed	Haryana RERA (Gurugram) has held a builder was not entitled to charge them (below)

Two orders worth knowing

Corpus is not maintenance. In Complaint No. 672 of 2022, decided on 1 June 2024, the Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority heard a residents' association whose members had paid a long-term maintenance corpus of ₹100 per sq ft at purchase, about ₹5.09 crore in all. The promoters argued the corpus had been used up on maintenance and that residents owed maintenance dues. The authority held that maintenance charges are distinct from the corpus fund, which is meant for major items such as generators and sewage treatment plants, and that unpaid maintenance did not entitle the promoters to keep the corpus. It directed the promoters to refund the ₹5,09,23,500 corpus with interest at 10.65%, the rate under the state's 2017 rules, within 60 days. It also directed the association to clear its own pending maintenance dues for 2011 to 2013, with interest. Both sides had obligations, and the authority enforced both.

No charges outside the agreement. In Complaint No. 3983 of 2020, decided on 7 April 2021, the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Gurugram, directed the builder of an affordable housing project not to levy holding charges at any point, and not to charge the buyer anything that was not part of the agreement.

These are orders on their own facts, in two states. They show how authorities read the Act; they do not fix a rate for your project.

Worked example: the demand on an ₹85 lakh flat

All figures below are illustrative, not from any order or project. Take a flat priced at ₹85 lakh, with a saleable area of 1,200 sq ft, where the agreement keeps 5% of the price for possession.

• Last instalment: 5% × ₹85,00,000 = ₹4,25,000
• Advance maintenance: 12 months × ₹4 per sq ft × 1,200 sq ft = ₹57,600
• Corpus fund: ₹50 per sq ft × 1,200 sq ft = ₹60,000
• Electricity and water connection and meter deposits: ₹45,000
• Association formation, share money and legal charges: ₹15,000

Total demand: ₹4,25,000 + ₹57,600 + ₹60,000 + ₹45,000 + ₹15,000 = ₹6,02,600. Leave out the price instalment and the charges come to ₹1,77,600, about 2.1% of the flat's price, payable at the same moment as the final instalment, stamp duty and your move.

Now split it by where the money should end up. The corpus (₹60,000) and any unspent advance maintenance (up to ₹57,600) are, together, as much as ₹1,17,600 that is meant for the residents' association, not the builder. GST may apply to some of these charges; ask a chartered accountant which, since the rules turn on the nature of each charge.

What to check before you pay

1. Match every line to a clause. Ask for the clause number of the registered agreement for each item on the demand. A charge with no clause is one to dispute in writing.
2. Rates and basis. Check whether maintenance and corpus are charged on carpet area or a larger "saleable" area, and that the rate matches the agreement.
3. Start date. Section 11(4)(g) puts outgoings on the builder until physical possession. If maintenance is billed for months before you were offered possession, ask which clause allows that.
4. Receipts that say what each sum is. Separate receipts for corpus, deposits and maintenance make it easier for your association to claim the money later.
5. The handover. When the association takes over, it should ask for an account of the advance maintenance spent, the corpus with any interest earned, and the utility deposits paid. If the builder does not hand them over, a complaint to the state RERA is the usual route; a lawyer can advise on your facts.

Your state's RERA rules also prescribe a form of agreement for sale, which may say more on these charges. Read the version attached to your project's RERA registration page, and compare it with what you signed.