PROCESS / 2026 / DOCUMENTS

An allotment letter is not the document that protects you. The registered agreement for sale is.

An allotment letter records that a home has been set against your booking. A registered agreement for sale is the document your rights run off. The difference is structural rather than a matter of degree: what appears on an allotment letter is largely what the promoter chooses to put on it, while Section 13(2) of the RERA Act 2016 fixes what an agreement for sale must specify — the payment dates, the possession date, and the default interest running in both directions. Section 18 then attaches its remedy to the date specified in that agreement. This page sets out what to check on each document, and what to do if you are holding only the first one.

PUBLISHED 2 SEPTEMBER 2026 · STATUTORY POSITION FROM THE RERA ACT 2016 · REGISTER FACTS AS AT THE DESK’S PORTAL CHECK OF 21 AUGUST 2026

Two documents, one of them decisive

Allotment letter: issued by the promoter to confirm a home against your booking. Its contents are largely the promoter’s own
Agreement for sale: prescribed by statute. Section 13(2) fixes what it must specify, and it is registered in your name
Which one carries the possession date: the agreement. Section 18 attaches its remedy to the date specified in the agreement for sale
The ten per cent line: Section 13(1) — no more than ten per cent of the cost may be accepted as advance or application fee before the agreement is executed and registered
If the two disagree: the registered agreement prevails over an allotment letter, a brochure, a portal listing and any page including this one
What to do with both: keep them together, and read the agreement clause by clause before signing rather than after

Register facts on this card are as at our desk's UP-RERA portal check of 21 August 2026, corroborated by our register mirror read of 29 July 2026. Vidastu Advisory is a UP-RERA registered agent, UPRERAAGT000309/01/2026, and is not the developer.

What is the difference between an allotment letter and an agreement for sale?

An allotment letter records that a home has been set against your booking. A registered agreement for sale is the document your rights actually run off. Both are normal, both are useful, and holding only the first while believing you hold the second is the mistake this page exists to prevent.

The difference is where the contents come from. What appears on an allotment letter is, in the main, what the promoter chooses to put on it. What must appear in an agreement for sale is fixed by statute, and the form of the agreement is prescribed under the rules made under the Act. That is a structural difference, not a matter of degree.

What must an agreement for sale contain?

Section 13(2) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 requires the agreement for sale to be in the prescribed form and to specify:

the particulars of development of the project, including the construction of the building and the apartments;
the specifications, and the internal development works and external development works;
the dates and the manner by which payments towards the cost of the apartment are to be made;
the date on which possession of the apartment is to be handed over;
the rates of interest payable by the promoter to the allottee, and by the allottee to the promoter, in case of default;
and such other particulars as may be prescribed.

Read that list again with a buyer’s eye. The possession date, the payment schedule and the default interest running both ways are in there. None of them is optional, and none of them is something a brochure or a listing can settle.

Which document does the possession clock run off?

The agreement. Section 18(1) gives its remedy where a promoter fails to complete or is unable to give possession in accordance with the terms of the agreement for sale, or by the date specified therein. The words point at one document, and it is not the allotment letter and not the brochure.

So a date you have been told, a date on a listing and a date on an allotment letter are all worth noting, but the date that will be read in any proceeding is the one in your registered agreement. Check that it is there, check what it says, and check it against the declared completion date on the project’s own register record before you sign. What that filed date does and does not commit a promoter to is set out on the La Vida Bella possession-date page and the 7 Peaks possession-date page. For 7 Peaks, the register record itself is transcribed field by field on the Eldeco 7 Peaks Residences RERA record page.

What to check on the allotment letter

Five lines, and all five are checkable in a few minutes.

The promoter entity, spelled exactly. For Eldeco La Vida Bella that is ELDECO REAL ESTATE LIMITED under UPRERAPRJ136219/04/2024; for Eldeco 7 Peaks Residences, ELDECO HOMES DEVELOPERS LIMITED under UPRERAPRJ106523/01/2026, as at our desk's UP-RERA portal check of 21 August 2026, corroborated by our register mirror read of 29 July 2026. A brand name is not an entity.
The registration number of the project you are actually buying in, printed on the letter and matching the register.
The home itself — tower, floor, unit number, and the area figures with the basis they are stated on. For Eldeco 7 Peaks Residences, the printed area sets to check those figures against — super, built-up, carpet and balcony — are on the Eldeco 7 Peaks Residences floor plans page.
The amount received and the account it went to. It should be the project’s designated collection account, never an individual and never an intermediary.
What it says about what happens next — specifically, when the agreement for sale will be offered for execution.

What to read in the agreement before you sign

Take it away and read it. There is no version of this that works well at a desk with someone waiting.

Clauses to locate by number before signing
What to find	Why it matters
The possession date clause	It is the date Section 18 works from. Check it against the declared completion date on the register.
The payment schedule	It should reproduce the schedule on your dated cost sheet, milestone for milestone, with each trigger naming who certifies it.
Default interest, both directions	Section 13(2) requires both rates. Check they are stated, and check whether they are the same rate.
The cancellation clause	Read the retention and the base it is calculated on. This is what governs a voluntary exit, as set out on our refund and withdrawal page.
The area basis	Carpet area is defined in the Act; super area is not the same measure. Know which one the price is applied to.
The specifications schedule	It is the fittings and finishes you can hold someone to. A brochure image is not a specification.
The charge heads	The heads outside the basic price should be named in the agreement and on the cost sheet. The rupee figures for your unit come from the desk in writing.

What if the letter and the agreement disagree?

The registered agreement prevails. It supersedes the allotment letter, the brochure, every portal listing and every page including this one. If you spot a difference before signing, that is the moment to raise it, in writing, and to have the agreement corrected rather than the difference explained away. What the 7 Peaks brochure actually contains — master plan, tower legend, spec schedule — is indexed on the Eldeco 7 Peaks brochure page, worth reading even though the agreement outranks it.

And the ten per cent line holds throughout. Section 13(1) says a promoter shall not accept more than ten per cent of the cost of the apartment as an advance payment or application fee without first entering into a written agreement for sale and registering it. That ceiling applies whatever payment structure or financing arrangement is on offer, and it is the one number on this page that does not depend on anybody’s document.

If you are holding only an allotment letter right now: ask, in writing, when the agreement for sale will be offered for execution, and ask for the proforma agreement filed against the project’s registration so you can read it before that date. Section 19 of the Act gives an allottee the right to obtain information about the project, and this is an ordinary request to make. Our desk will put it in for you.

Questions buyers ask

Is an allotment letter the same as an agreement for sale?

No. An allotment letter is issued by the promoter to record that a home has been set against your booking, and what appears on it is largely what the promoter chooses to put on it. An agreement for sale is prescribed by statute: Section 13(2) of the RERA Act 2016 fixes what it must specify, and it is executed and registered in your name. Holding only the first while believing you hold the second is a common and expensive mistake.

What must an agreement for sale contain under RERA?

Section 13(2) requires it to be in the prescribed form and to specify the particulars of development of the project including the construction of the building and apartments, the specifications and the internal and external development works, the dates and manner by which payments towards the cost are to be made, the date on which possession is to be handed over, the rates of interest payable by the promoter to the allottee and by the allottee to the promoter in case of default, and such other particulars as may be prescribed.

Which document does the possession date legally come from?

The registered agreement for sale. Section 18(1) gives its remedy where a promoter fails to complete or is unable to give possession in accordance with the terms of the agreement for sale or by the date specified therein, so the words point at that document rather than at a brochure, a listing or an allotment letter. Check the date is in the agreement, and check it against the declared completion date on the project's own register record before signing.

Allotment letter mil gaya, ab kya karna hai? I have the allotment letter, what next?

Do cheezein likhit mein maangiye. Pehla, agreement for sale kab execution ke liye offer hoga. Doosra, us registration ke against filed proforma agreement, taaki aap use pehle padh sakein. Section 19 allottee ko project ki information lene ka haq deta hai, to ye aam request hai. Aur tab tak Section 13(1) yaad rakhiye: registered agreement se pehle cost ka das pratishat se zyada nahi diya jata.

What happens if the allotment letter and the agreement say different things?

The registered agreement for sale prevails. It supersedes the allotment letter, the brochure, every portal listing and every page including this one. Raise any difference in writing before signing and have the agreement corrected rather than the difference explained, because after execution the agreement is the instrument that will be read.

Can a builder ask for more than 10% before the agreement is registered?

No. Section 13(1) of the RERA Act 2016 says a promoter shall not accept a sum more than ten per cent of the cost of the apartment, plot or building as an advance payment or application fee without first entering into a written agreement for sale and registering that agreement. The ceiling holds whatever payment structure or financing arrangement is on offer. Pay the booking instalment, then pay nothing further until the agreement is executed and registered in your name.

Ask the desk for the proforma agreement → Read the RERA Verify page Contact the desk

By Vidit Kaushik, Vidastu Advisory (UP-RERA Agent UPRERAAGT000309/01/2026) · Published 2 September 2026 · This page states the statutory position and a checking method. It is not legal advice, and it makes no adverse claim about any promoter.