Deemed conveyance step by step: ₹2,000 to apply, ₹100 a flat only in one case

Rules as of 13 October 2026.

A society that never received its conveyance deed from the builder does not have to wait forever. Section 11 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963 (MOFA) lets the members ask a government officer to issue a certificate, and the Sub-Registrar then registers a "deemed conveyance" even though the builder never signed. This is how that route works, what it costs, and where societies lose time.

What the law says

Section 11(1) says a promoter must take all necessary steps to complete his title and convey it to the society. Rule 9 of the MOFA Rules sets four months from the formation of the society for the conveyance, unless the agreement gives a date. The Bombay High Court records this in Darshan Mandir CHS v. District Deputy Registrar (22 June 2026).

Sub-sections (3) to (5) were added by Maharashtra Amendment Act 4 of 2008, in force from 25 February 2008. They work like this:

• 11(3): if the promoter does not convey, the members apply in writing to the Competent Authority with true copies of the registered agreements for sale and other relevant documents, "including the occupation certificate, if any".
• 11(4): the Competent Authority holds an inquiry, hears the promoter, and decides within a reasonable time and in any case not later than six months.
• 11(5): the Sub-Registrar must issue a summons to the promoter and hear him before registering the deed as a deemed conveyance.

In practice the Competent Authority is the District Deputy Registrar (DDR) of Co-operative Societies for the area, as the Cooperation Department's consolidated Government Resolution of 22 June 2018 puts it.

Step by step (GR of 22 June 2018)

The GR (No. SaGruYo-2017/Pra.Kra.192/14-S) replaced two older GRs of 2014 and sets out four stages.

1. Apply to the DDR in Form 7, with a draft conveyance, and get the Deemed Conveyance Order and Certificate. The application fee is a court-fee stamp of ₹2,000, or the same amount online.
2. Get the draft deed adjudicated for stamp duty by the Joint District Registrar and Collector of Stamps, unless the no-adjudication route below applies.
3. Register the deed with the Sub-Registrar. The GR says registration should be completed within one day, citing the Maharashtra Lok Seva Hakk notification of 2015.
4. Update the records. Apply to the City Survey Officer or Talathi to enter the society's name on the property card or 7/12 extract. The GR says the process is complete only after this entry.

Documents for the online application

• Form 7 and a self-declaration that the documents are true
• Society registration certificate and a copy of the general body resolution on deemed conveyance
• Property card or 7/12 extract not older than three months
• List of all legal flat owners in the prescribed format
• Copy of the legal notice sent to the promoter asking for conveyance
• Commencement Certificate and Occupation Certificate, or a self-declaration if there is no OC
• One member's registered agreement for sale with Index II, and the approved layout plan (for hard-copy filing)

The stamp duty: where the "₹2,500" claims go wrong

Short videos often say a society can become owner for a few thousand rupees. I found no fixed "₹2,500" figure in the GR. What the GR does say has two branches.

Case	What the GR says
Deed says no FSI is balance (with a current architect's certificate) and every flat agreement is registered and stamped at the Article 25 rate	No adjudication. The society pays stamp duty of number of flats × ₹100, "or as prescribed by the Government from time to time", and goes straight to the Sub-Registrar. The Collector of Stamps can check later, and any shortfall plus penalty falls on the society.
Anything else	Adjudication is compulsory. The Collector of Stamps decides within 30 days of a complete application. Flat owners with no proof of duty on their agreements must pay it for their flats.

The GR does not say how the Collector values land in the second case, so do not assume a number. Ask for the adjudication code from the IGR Maharashtra portal and an advocate's estimate before you promise members a figure.

Worked example (illustrative)

A 24-flat society that meets both no-adjudication conditions pays ₹2,000 (application) + 24 × ₹100 = ₹2,400 (stamp duty) = ₹4,400. That excludes the registration fee, the architect's certificate, the advocate and the survey office. For 25 flats the stamp duty alone is exactly ₹2,500. I cannot say that is where the viral number comes from, but it shows that the amount is per society, and only in the clean case, not per flat owner.

RERA projects: section 11A

Many builders argued that MOFA did not apply once a project was under RERA. A bill amending MOFA was passed by the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council on 13 December 2025. Law-firm reports say it became the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2025 on 31 December 2025, effective from 1 May 2016. I could not see the Gazette copy, so treat the Act number and date as reported. As passed, it adds section 11A: if the promoter of a registered project does not execute a registered conveyance deed, allottees or their association may apply to the Competent Authority under section 11(3), and sub-sections (4) and (5) apply.

What courts have said, and where societies get stuck

• Builder's insolvency is no bar. In Darshan Mandir (22 June 2026) the High Court held that insolvency proceedings against the developer do not stop the Competent Authority from deciding.
• Title disputes do not freeze the application. In Kamalbaug (4 October 2023) the High Court said a deemed conveyance certificate does not finally decide title, which goes to a civil court.
• Do not file twice. In Faime Makers (Supreme Court, 1 April 2025) a society's second application after a rejected first one was held barred, because the first order had become final and was not challenged.
• The officer must actually decide. In Rose Villa CHS (6 October 2026) the High Court said the DDR erred by not deciding a society's application.

Mistakes to avoid

• Filing without the legal notice to the promoter and the list of flat owners
• Skipping the property-card entry after registration
• Treating a rejection as a reason to re-apply instead of challenging the order
• Quoting members a ₹ figure before the stamp-duty route is known

This explains the process and is not legal advice. Take an advocate's view on your society's papers.