Telangana REAT Says Promoter Cannot Alter Possession Date, Dismisses 31 Appeals By Vasavi Realtors

The Telangana Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (REAT) on 9 September held that extension of a real estate project's registration does not automatically extend the possession timeline agreed with homebuyers, and a promoter cannot unilaterally alter the contractual possession date without their consent.

A Bench comprising Chairperson Justice A. Santhosh Reddy, Judicial Member P. Pradeep Kumar Reddy and Administrative Member Vemula Sreekar dismissed 31 appeals filed by Vasavi Realtors LLP against Telangana RERA orders directing it to pay delay interest to homebuyers in its “Vasavi Lake City-West” project at Hafeezpet. The Tribunal observed:

“However, we are of the considered view that extension of registration of a project does not automatically mean that the due date for completion of the project as per the respective agreements of sale also get extended. The agreement of sale is a legally enforceable document under Indian Contract Act, 1872 and the promoter cannot unilaterally alter the date for handing over possession unless both the parties agreed to change the due date of handing over of possession of the flat.”

Several homebuyers had purchased flats in the project under agreements of sale executed with Vasavi Realtors on different dates in 2022. The agreements required the promoter to hand over possession by 31 August 2024, with a six-month grace period extending the deadline to 28 February 2025, subject to the force majeure clause.

After Vasavi Realtors failed to hand over possession within the agreed period, the homebuyers approached the Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority seeking possession, delay interest and compensation.

On 30 December 2025, Telangana RERA partly allowed 31 complaints. It held Vasavi Realtors liable for failing to deliver possession by 28 February 2025 and directed it to pay interest at 10.70% per annum on the amounts actually paid by the respective homebuyers from 1 March 2025 until lawful possession was handed over. It also directed the promoter to complete the project and hand over possession.

Vasavi Realtors challenged the orders before the Appellate Tribunal under the appellate mechanism of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.

The promoter argued that the project had faced impediments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including labour migration and supply-chain disruptions. It relied on Clause 7.1, which permitted an extension on account of force majeure, and argued that the extension of the project's registration until 7 February 2026 also extended the possession deadline.

The homebuyers contended that the agreements were executed in 2022, after the COVID-19 lockdown periods, when the pandemic and its consequences were already known. They also argued that Vasavi Realtors had failed to establish how COVID-19 prevented construction after 2023 or show that it had informed them that the pandemic was responsible for the delay.

Rejecting the defence, the Tribunal noted that the agreements were executed in 2022, well after the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown periods. It found no evidence that the promoter was unable to perform its contractual obligations because of the pandemic or had informed the homebuyers that possession would be delayed on that ground.

It held that Vasavi Realtors, having entered into agreements after the lockdowns with specific possession timelines, could not retrospectively invoke COVID-19 to avoid liability for delay interest. It observed:

“The appellant/promoter, having executed the respective agreements of sale subsequent to the lockdown periods with specific possession timelines, cannot now, with retrospective justification, rely on Covid-19 pandemic as a defence to escape its contractual and statutory obligations.”

The Bench also noted that the project was registered on 20 March 2020, with the registration initially valid until 7 February 2025 and subsequently extended until 7 February 2026. However, it found that the extension was not granted on any recorded force majeure ground.

It further noted that Vasavi Realtors had not entered into supplementary agreements with the homebuyers to change the possession date. The registration extension, therefore, could not alter the contractual terms, and the possession dates agreed between the parties continued to apply.

Accordingly, the REAT found no illegality or procedural irregularity in Telangana RERA's orders, dismissed all 31 appeals and confirmed the orders dated 30 December 2025. It made no order as to costs.

Appearances for Appellant (Vasavi Realtors LLP): Advocate D. Madhav Rao.