Conveyance and deemed conveyance for a Mumbai society

What owning a flat does not give you

You own your flat. The society, collectively, is supposed to own the land beneath it. Until conveyance happens, the developer still does.

Most owners discover this only when the society tries to redevelop and finds that it cannot, because it does not own the thing it is proposing to redevelop.

The four month rule almost nobody enforces

Where no period is agreed, the MOFA rules require the promoter to convey within four months of the society's registration. In practice a great many Mumbai societies are decades past that and have never pushed.

That is what deemed conveyance exists for.

Deemed conveyance, in outline

Who decides. The District Deputy Registrar acts as the competent authority.

Who applies. The society, or its members, apply in writing.

What goes in. The application is made in the prescribed Form VII under the MOFA rules, with a court fee stamp of 2,000 rupees, enclosing true copies of the registered agreement for sale of every member, the society's registration certificate, and the occupation certificate where there is one.

How long it takes. Proceedings before the competent authority are to be completed within six months. Treat that as the design rather than a promise, and budget for gathering the member agreements taking longer than the hearing does.

What comes out. An order that transfers title to the society without the developer signing anything, which is the entire point of the mechanism.

Much of the process can now be done online, provided the society actually holds its documents.

Why developers delay it, and what the courts have said

The law gives a developer four months from the date the society is registered to convey the land and building to it. That is section 11 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act read with rule 9 of the 1964 rules. The delay is rarely about paperwork.

The usual reason is development potential. Land that has not been conveyed is land whose unused FSI, and any TDR loaded onto it, still sits with the developer, and a clause in the agreement postponing conveyance until some future phase is complete is how that is held open. In February 2026 the Bombay High Court dealt with exactly that clause and refused to enforce it. Justice Amit Borkar held that if such clauses were honoured a promoter could delay conveyance indefinitely "by referring to some future plan, additional FSI, or a proposed phase that may or may not materialise", and that a contractual promise is not a licence to withhold conveyance at will. Unsold flats, disputed dues and plain inertia are the other reasons, and none of them is a defence either.

The remedy is deemed conveyance through the District Deputy Registrar of Co operative Societies, who can order the sub registrar to register the conveyance without the developer's signature. From 31 December 2025 that route is open to RERA registered projects too, under a new section 11A added to the Act.

How many societies in these suburbs still lack conveyance is not known. A figure of 85 percent for Mumbai was cited at a seminar in 2014; it is old, and no official count for Borivali, Kandivali or Malad exists. What is safe to say is that on any older building, ask, and do not assume.

If your building is talking about redevelopment

Ask about conveyance first, not last. A society that does not own its land cannot redevelop on its own terms, and every other conversation about builders and terms is premature until that is settled.

If you are buying in an older building

Ask whether conveyance is done. Few buyers do, and a society that has completed it is telling you it is well run. If you are looking at a flat in Borivali, Kandivali or Malad and would like us to check the society's position before you decide, send us the building's name. It is free, and it is usually the same day.