Gurgaon: Haryana has proposed making the registration of an Agreement to Sell mandatory, in a bid to bring greater transparency and legal security to property transactions, chief minister Nayab Singh Saini announced during the budget.Presently, such agreements are often executed on plain paper or notarised privately, without being entered into official records. This leaves buyers vulnerable to fraud, double-selling of properties, delayed possession, and prolonged litigation, as unregistered agreements have weaker evidentiary value in disputes.By mandating registration, govt seeks to ensure that every property-related commitment is formally documented, time-stamped, and recorded with revenue authorities. This will help verify ownership, prevent multiple agreements for the same property, and provide stronger legal protection to both buyers and sellers. The reform is expected to significantly reduce property scams, speed up dispute resolution, and increase trust in real estate transactions, making the market more transparent, secure, and accountable for all stakeholders.In Haryana, an agreement to sell is traditionally treated as a contractual document and not a title-creating instrument. Most agreements between buyers and sellers, especially in secondary or resale property transactions, are executed on stamp paper and notarised, but registration is not mandatory.Because the document is not compulsorily registered, it often does not enter official land records, leading to disputes over ownership, double-selling, fraudulent GPA or SPA transfers, and litigation over possession or payments. Many cases reach courts when sellers back out or buyers claim specific performance based on unregistered agreements.The Registration Act, 1908, only mandates the logging of sale, conveyance, and certain lease deeds. An Agreement to Sell falls outside this category unless state rules specify otherwise. As a result, parties rely on notarised agreements, which have limited evidentiary value compared to registered documents.However, the regulatory regime is different for real estate projects covered under Haryana RERA. The authority mandates that builders execute a registered agreement for sale with a homebuyer after receiving up to 10% of the sale consideration. Promoters cannot take a higher advance without completing this registration. Haryana RERA also prescribes a standardised agreement format that developers must follow, covering payment schedules, possession timelines, penalties, and rights of both parties. The document must be uploaded on the RERA portal, ensuring transparency and preventing arbitrary clauses or unilateral cancellations.The contrasting norms—optional registration in general market transactions versus mandatory registration in RERA-governed projects—have created two parallel systems. While RERA offers stronger protection and clear enforcement for homebuyers, the broader property market continues to rely on unregistered agreements, which remain a major source of litigation and fraud.
