Karnataka's RERA has ordered a Bengaluru developer to restore power supply, complete promised amenities, and transfer the land Khata, corpus fund and maintenance accounts to the residents' association within 90 days, ruling that possession alone does not end a promoter's obligations. The order, dated June 3, 2026, also rejected the builder's argument that RERA did not apply because the occupancy certificate predated the Act.
What this changes for a title check
For anyone running a title or status check on an apartment, this order means an occupancy certificate or a possession letter is no longer proof that a promoter's obligations are closed. The specific records a checker should now ask for are proof that the land Khata has actually been transferred to the residents' association, proof that the corpus fund and escrow account balances have been handed over, and confirmation that maintenance accounts were submitted, since Karnataka RERA treated all of these as live obligations that survive possession. The ruling also removes a defence developers have used on older projects: an occupancy certificate issued before certain RERA provisions came into force does not exempt the promoter, since the authority relied on the Supreme Court's Newtech Promoters ruling to say continuing obligations from an earlier agreement remain covered. For a lender financing a purchase in an older project, or for a title report flagging a project as complete, this means checking whether the Khata, corpus fund and common asset transfer actually happened, not just whether possession and an occupancy certificate exist on paper.