Conveyance is a statutory duty, not a discretionary favour
Once a Pune housing project is complete and the society is formed, the land and building must be conveyed to the society — title transferred from the promoter to the cooperative society of flat purchasers (or, in apartment-ownership format, to the apartment owners' association). This is not a contractual nicety. It is a statutory obligation, the breach of which has been one of the most common causes of long-running Pune disputes between societies and developers.
This guide explains the framework — under Maharashtra's Housing Department's "Registration of Society and Deemed Conveyance" guidance, the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963 (MOFA), the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA Act), and the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970 — and the route a society can take when the promoter does not cooperate.
Two statutes, one duty
Depending on when your agreement for sale was executed, one of two regimes governs:
- Agreements executed before 1 May 2017 — MOFA, 1963 governs. Section 11 of MOFA obliges the promoter to convey the title to the society within the period specified in the agreement, and where no period is specified, within four months of formation of the society or four months of the date of allotment letter for the last purchaser, whichever is later.
- Agreements executed on or after 1 May 2017 — the RERA Act, 2016 governs. Section 17 of the RERA Act requires the promoter to execute a registered conveyance deed in favour of the allottee or, as the case may be, the association of allottees, within the prescribed period.
The MahaRERA model agreement for sale mirrors Section 17 — the promoter has to convey within the agreed period (or within three months of issue of the occupation certificate, where the agreement is silent).
In substance both regimes say the same thing: the promoter must transfer title; failing to do so is actionable.
The two formats — society conveyance vs apartment conveyance
In Maharashtra, two ownership formats are common for housing buildings:
- Cooperative housing society under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 — most prevalent. The land and building are conveyed to the society; flat purchasers are members holding shares. Annual meetings, bye-laws and the audit framework follow from the 1960 Act.
- Apartment association under the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970 — each flat is conveyed individually as a deed of apartment, with common areas held in undivided shares. Less common in Pune residential but appears in some commercial and luxury residential buildings.
Conveyance to the society or association requires the promoter's cooperation in executing the deed and lodging it for registration. When that cooperation is withheld, deemed conveyance becomes the route.
What deemed conveyance actually is
Section 11 of MOFA, read with Rules made under it, provides for deemed conveyance where the promoter fails to execute conveyance within the prescribed period. The society applies to the Competent Authority — designated as the District Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies in Pune district — for an order declaring that the conveyance is deemed to have been executed in favour of the society.
Once the order is passed, the society lodges it with the Sub-Registrar for registration and pays the applicable stamp duty (which is calculated as if the deed had been executed normally). The title vests in the society without requiring the promoter's signature on the deed.
Documents required for the deemed-conveyance application
A clean application typically comprises:
- Society registration certificate.
- List of members with their flat / unit details, area and consideration.
- Index II / sale deeds of each member's flat.
- Approved building plan and IOD / CC / OC.
- Property card / 7/12 extract of the land.
- Survey plan of the land.
- A demand notice previously served on the promoter calling for conveyance — proof that the promoter was given an opportunity to comply.
- MOFA agreement extracts showing the promoter's contractual conveyance obligation, or RERA agreement for post-2017 cases.
The Competent Authority issues notice to the promoter, conducts a hearing, and passes an order. The whole process commonly runs 4–9 months.
Stamp duty and registration
Deemed conveyance does not avoid stamp duty. The order from the Competent Authority is presented for registration to the Sub-Registrar, who calculates the stamp duty based on:
- The market value of the land and structure on the date of registration (Article 25 of Schedule I to the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958, as applicable), with an adjustment for stamp duty already paid by the individual flat purchasers on their agreements for sale.
The society's registration cost is therefore typically modest — the bulk of the stamp duty was already paid at the flat-sale stage.
Why societies don't just leave the title with the builder
Some Pune societies live for decades without taking conveyance. The risks they carry:
- No legal title — the society and members hold beneficial ownership but not legal title. Selling a flat is harder, financing it is harder, and mortgaging the land is impossible.
- Risk of promoter encumbrance — until conveyance, the land continues to stand registered in the promoter's name; a mortgage created by the promoter post-completion has been seen to bind the property in disputed transactions.
- Difficulty with redevelopment — for any future redevelopment under DCPR or under cooperative-society resolution, title in the society is a precondition for clean execution. See our society-redevelopment guide.
- Adverse tax positions in some structures where the developer's continued ownership of the land complicates assessments.
For these reasons, taking conveyance — by negotiation if possible, by deemed conveyance if necessary — is one of the cleanest housekeeping moves a Pune society can make.
The RERA Section 17 route — for post-2017 agreements
For agreements executed under MahaRERA-registered projects, the society may also file a complaint before MahaRERA itself under Section 31 of the RERA Act for the promoter's failure to comply with Section 17. The Authority can direct the promoter to execute conveyance and impose penalty under Section 61. This works alongside (not instead of) the deemed-conveyance route under MOFA Section 11.
For project-level RERA verifications the society should run, see our MahaRERA registration check guide.
Pune note: we coordinate the conveyance + tax + redevelopment chain
At RDA Tax Advisory Services, Baner, deemed conveyance is one of several deliverables we run for Pune societies. For societies caught with a non-responsive promoter, we prepare and file the deemed-conveyance application before the District Deputy Registrar, organise the supporting Index II, building plans and IOD/CC/OC, calculate the adjusted stamp duty for registration, and coordinate with the architect and legal team through the hearing. Where conveyance is the precursor to redevelopment, we sequence the steps so the society reaches the redevelopment vote with clear title. Office No. 102, Snehraj Apartment, Baner, Pune 411045 · call +91 77570 45059.
Get your Pune society's conveyance done
Builder hasn't conveyed land and building to your Pune society? RDA prepares the deemed-conveyance application under MOFA Section 11 or the RERA Section 17 complaint, and pursues it through to registration. Book a society advisory at rdatax.in or call +91 77570 45059 — RDA Tax Advisory Services, Baner, Pune.
Verification note: Material legal positions — Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act 1963 (MOFA) Section 11 (promoter's conveyance obligation and the deemed-conveyance remedy via the Competent Authority); RERA Act 2016 Section 17 (post-2017 conveyance obligation), Section 31 (complaint to Authority), Section 61 (penalty); Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970 (apartment-format conveyance); Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 (society format and bye-laws); Maharashtra RERA Rules 2017 (Rule 9 on conveyance); MahaRERA model Agreement for Sale; the Competent Authority designation as District Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies under the MOFA Rules — are sourced from the Maharashtra Housing Department official "Registration of Society and Deemed Conveyance" page and MahaRERA portal. Confirm specific facts with a property advocate.
