Registration money

What a lucky draw applicant pays to enter; refunded to the unsuccessful. How much depends on what you applied for rather than on who you are: IDA Indore's scheme 136 flat lottery takes ₹1.00 lakh on a 1 BHK, ₹2.50 lakh on a 2 BHK and ₹3.50 lakh on a 3 BHK, paid online with the application. It is not the same thing as a registration fee, and some authorities charge both. DDA takes ₹2,500 to register for Janta Awaas Yojana Phase II and its brochure is explicit that this ₹2,500 is non-refundable and is not adjusted against the price of a flat; MHADA's lottery application fee is ₹708. A first come first served scheme uses the same words for something else again: GDA's takes 10 per cent of the price as registration money at the moment of booking.

Check which of the two the authority means before you pay: registration money comes back or is adjusted into the price, a registration fee does neither.

In a lucky draw the registration money, not an earnest money deposit, is what is at stake, and it is returned to everyone who is not allotted.