RERA possession-delay interest: how MahaRERA calculates what a Pune builder owes you

When a builder misses the possession date written into the agreement for sale, Section 18 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, gives the buyer a right that does not depend on proving any loss. The buyer can either withdraw and take a full refund of the money paid, with interest, or stay in the project and be paid interest for every month of delay until possession is handed over. The interest runs at a rate the state fixes by rule. In Maharashtra — which covers Pune — that prescribed rate is the State Bank of India's highest marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) plus two percent per annum. This guide explains how the entitlement works, how the figure is calculated, and how to claim it at MahaRERA.

This is the companion to PropWatch's guide on recovering money after you win a MahaRERA order, linked below. That piece is about enforcing an order the builder will not honour. This one is about the underlying right — the delay interest itself — and how the number is arrived at before any order is passed.

The Section 18 right is automatic — you do not prove a loss

Section 18 does not ask the buyer to show what the delay cost in rent, EMIs or opportunity. The right to interest attaches the moment the builder fails to hand over possession by the date the agreement fixes, including any grace period the agreement itself allows. The Bombay High Court has described the delay-interest entitlement under Section 18 as an unqualified, absolute right — one that does not require a separate notice to the builder and is not defeated by portal-side completion-date extensions the promoter obtained from the authority. The date that matters is the possession date in the buyer's own agreement for sale.

• Withdraw and exit — take a full refund of the amount paid to the promoter, with interest from each payment date until the refund is returned.
• Continue and stay — remain in the project and receive interest for every month of delay, from the agreed possession date until possession is actually given.
• The choice is the buyer's, not the builder's, and the interest runs at the prescribed rate either way.

The rate: SBI highest MCLR plus two percent

The interest rate is not left to the builder or to negotiation. Rule 18 of the Maharashtra RERA Rules prescribes it as the State Bank of India's highest MCLR plus two percent per annum. MCLR is the internal benchmark below which a bank does not ordinarily lend; SBI publishes its MCLR for different tenors and revises it periodically, so the applicable figure moves over time. The Act also fixes that the same rate applies both ways — the interest a promoter must pay a buyer and the interest a buyer would owe on a default are set at the identical prescribed rate, so the provision cuts symmetrically.

A worked example (illustrative figures only)

The numbers below are hypothetical and chosen only to show the mechanics. They are not the current rate and not a prediction of any award. Substitute the real figures from your agreement and the prescribed rate published by MahaRERA.

Assume a buyer has paid ₹50,00,000 to the promoter. The agreement fixed possession for 31 December 2024, and the flat is still not handed over by 31 December 2025 — a delay of twelve months. Take an illustrative prescribed rate of 10.5 percent per annum. If the buyer chooses to continue in the project, the interest for the delay is computed on the amount paid, for the period of delay, at that rate.

• Amount on which interest runs: ₹50,00,000 (the sum paid to the promoter).
• Illustrative annual rate: 10.5 percent — that is ₹5,25,000 for a full year.
• Delay period: 12 months — so the illustrative delay interest is about ₹5,25,000 for the year.
• If the delay were 18 months at the same illustrative rate, the interest would be roughly ₹7,87,500.

If instead the buyer withdraws, the refund route computes interest on each instalment from the date it was paid to the promoter until the refund is returned, again at the prescribed rate — so an early payment accrues interest over a longer period than a later one. Both routes turn on three inputs: the amount paid, the length of the delay, and the prescribed rate in force for that period.

How to claim delay interest at MahaRERA

A Pune project registers with MahaRERA on the state portal — there is no separate Pune RERA. PropWatch's guide to checking a Pune project on MahaRERA, linked below, covers the search and the status fields. An aggrieved allottee files a complaint against the registered project under Section 31 of the Act, on the prescribed Form A, and states the relief sought — delay interest if continuing, or refund with interest if withdrawing.

1. Fix the delay start date. Read the possession date in your agreement for sale, including any grace period the agreement itself allows. That date, not a MahaRERA portal extension, is where the delay clock starts.
2. Total the amount paid. Add up every payment made to the promoter from your receipts and the statement of account — this is the figure the interest runs on.
3. Establish the prescribed rate. Note SBI's highest MCLR for the relevant period and add two percent, per Rule 18 of the Maharashtra RERA Rules; confirm the wording on the MahaRERA portal.
4. Compute the interest for the delay period on the amount paid at that rate, and decide whether you are continuing (delay interest) or withdrawing (refund with interest).
5. File the complaint on Form A under Section 31 through maharera.maharashtra.gov.in, stating the relief and attaching the agreement, all payment receipts and the MahaRERA registration extract. Pay the prescribed fee online.
6. Track the dashboard and registered email for hearing notices and the order — a missed hearing can set the matter back.

MahaRERA orders on delay interest typically direct the promoter to pay within the period the order specifies. If the builder does not pay, winning the order is not the same as recovering the money — the recovery machinery, including recovery as arrears of land revenue through the District Collector, is the next step, covered in PropWatch's recovery guide below. Where the dispute involves substantial damages beyond interest, the choice between RERA and the consumer forum matters; PropWatch's forum-selection guide sets out the trade-off.

Before you file — a checklist

• Pull the possession date and any grace period from your agreement for sale, not from the brochure or portal.
• Total every payment made to the promoter from receipts and the account statement.
• Confirm SBI's current highest MCLR and add two percent for the prescribed rate; verify the wording on the MahaRERA portal.
• Decide between continuing (delay interest) and withdrawing (refund with interest) — the choice is yours under Section 18.
• Keep the delay-interest claim separate from any compensation claim, which needs evidence of actual loss.
• Check the project's live status and order history on MahaRERA before filing, and note any Appellate Tribunal stay.
• File on Form A under Section 31 through maharera.maharashtra.gov.in and track the compliance deadline the order sets.

SourceRERA Act, 2016 — full text, including Section 18 (return of amount and compensation) and Section 31 (filing of complaints)

SourceMahaRERA — official portal and complaint filing

SourcePropWatch — MahaRERA's 2025 enforcement SOP: how to recover money after winning a RERA order

SourcePropWatch — Pune RERA: how to check a project on MahaRERA before you buy

SourcePropWatch — RERA, consumer forum or NCLT: where to file when a builder defaults

SourcePropWatch — Pune real estate legal & MahaRERA report