What caused e-khata delays to hold back flat handovers?

Registration of a flat's sale deed in the city requires a final e-khata. The BBMP gave way to five city corporations in September 2025, and e-khatas for new buildings came slowly afterwards, so registrations and handovers stood by.

What did Shriram Properties say about the delays?

In its report on the quarter to December 2025, the company said problems in the e-khata system held up handovers of projects just completed and pushed revenue into later quarters. Record handovers came in the last quarter of FY26.

Does a buyer get compensation for a late handover?

Yes, once handover falls behind the date for possession in the agreement for sale. Under section 18 of the RERA Act a buyer who stays on in the project is paid interest for every month of delay.

Is it wise to accept possession before the occupancy certificate?

No. A flat with no certificate has neither an e-khata nor a registered deed, which leaves the buyer in possession without ownership and exposed to any plan deviations.

E-Khata Delays and Flat Handover in Bangalore: What to Check

Picture a tower that is finished, painted and ready, with buyers waiting, while the papers that let a flat change hands are held up in a civic office. Many Bangalore buyers lived this in late 2025. The sections below explain the cause, show how it appeared in a listed developer's accounts and list the questions that protect anyone nearing possession.

Why the Keys Depend on Two Documents

Within the limits of the city corporations, a finished building must clear a sequence of steps before anyone moves in. A hold-up at any one of them stops the rest.

An occupancy certificate comes from the corporation, stating that the building matches its sanctioned plan and can be lived in safely
Every flat then gets its own e-khata, opened in the corporation's records of property
The deed of sale is registered with the sub-registrar, with the e-khata quoted in it
The buyer takes possession and applies for the khata to be changed to their own name

Since October 2024 no city property has been registered without a final e-khata. For a new block, the developer obtains the flats' e-khatas as soon as the occupancy certificate is in hand. Should step one or two drag, the building may look complete while its flats cannot yet be sold on paper.

The Setback of September 2025

The Greater Bengaluru Authority and its five city corporations took over from the BBMP on 2 September 2025. While the new offices found their feet, work on approvals and certificates for just-finished buildings, and their e-khatas, moved at a crawl.

The listed developer Shriram Properties said as much in its results. It linked weaker handovers in the middle two quarters of FY26 to the change. In its report for the three months to December 2025 it noted that occupancy certificates were no longer a problem, yet the e-khata system, newly introduced, was still faulty. Projects just completed could not be handed over, and revenue, which is booked on handover, moved on to later quarters.

The annual figures went to the stock exchanges on 25 May 2026, and the year closed on a stronger note:

New bookings worth Rs. 2,354 Crore, which came to about 42 lakh sq ft
Rs. 1,356.9 Crore of revenue, which is 39% above FY25
Net profit was Rs. 100.8 Crore, which crossed the Rs. 100 Crore mark for the first time
The last quarter saw handovers at record levels in two cities, Bangalore and Kolkata

By then the company called the work on e-khatas, occupancy certificates and registrations normal again. What a buyer should note is how it works: even a finished flat has to wait for documents.

Counting the Cost at Home

Companies can shift income into the next quarter. Families cannot shift their bills, and a delay shows up in three ways:

Rent keeps going on the home you live in, alongside the new loan's instalment
The bank's closing tranche, linked to registration, is held back
Children's school admissions, interior work and the move all slide

A short calculation makes the point. Take a flat at Rs. 80 Lakhs with a fifth paid as down payment, so Rs. 64 Lakhs has to be borrowed. Over 20 years at 8.5% the EMI comes to about Rs. 55,500, and three months of that along with rent is a meaningful amount, so hold a reserve.

The EMI calculator can run the same sum for any loan amount before you sign. Add the rent for the waiting months to its answer.

What the Law Gives You

Begin with the possession date set out in your registered sale agreement. If the project is late and you stay, section 18 of the RERA Act gives you interest for each month of delay until the day you get the flat. If you would rather leave, you may ask for a refund together with interest.

Developers sometimes plead force majeure, yet section 6 defines it through a short list: war, flood, drought, fire, cyclone, earthquake and similar natural calamities. Slow civic paperwork is not among them, and Karnataka RERA weighs each case on its facts.

Two other sections apply once a building is complete. Section 19(10) expects the buyer to take possession inside two months of the certificate. Under section 17, the developer has three months from that same certificate to complete the registered conveyance, unless local law prescribes some other period.

Practical Checks for the Last Stretch

When possession is near, make these requests to the developer:

Get the certificate itself and read which towers and floors fall under it
Learn whether your flat already has an e-khata, and copy down its property ID
Check that it is entered in the A register
Set the possession date in your agreement against the completion date shown on the Karnataka portal for RERA
Have the last instalment made payable only on registration of the deed
Tell the lender when registration is likely, so that its final release is ready
Do not commit to a fixed rental term until the registration date is booked

Say no to any handover that comes ahead of the occupancy certificate. Such a flat has neither an e-khata nor a registered deed, and any change from the sanctioned drawings becomes your risk. Hold out for a written offer that gives the certificate's number and date.

The Broader Point

The trouble came with a change of system and passed, as the fourth quarter showed handovers resuming. A lasting lesson remains, which is that finishing construction and finishing the sale are different events, and public offices shape the second at least as much as the developer.

When two almost-ready projects compete for your money, look at their paperwork as well as their walls. A project that already has its certificate and e-khatas can register straight away. One that is built but still waiting carries a timing risk, which the budget should absorb.