What is token amount?
Also called: bayana, token money, bayana amount, advance money
Paid to take a resale property off the market, the token amount is a small first payment, usually ₹51,000 to ₹1 lakh or about 1% of the price. It shows the seller you are serious and is adjusted against the final price.
In a resale deal the token is the first money that changes hands, often before any lawyer has looked at the papers. In Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad people call it bayana, and the amount is usually ₹51,000, ₹1 lakh or a round 1% of the price. It is paid against a receipt or a one-page token agreement that records the price, the property details, the date by which the agreement to sell will be signed and what happens to the money if either side backs out.
That last part is where most disputes start. A token paid without written terms is, in practice, whatever the seller later says it was. If the receipt says the amount is refundable should the title check fail, you have a claim. If it says nothing, getting it back from an unwilling seller means a civil suit that can cost more than the token itself. Write the conditions down: refundable in full if the title, the encumbrance certificate or the society NOC is not in order, and payable twice over if the seller backs out, which is a common clause in north Indian bayana receipts.
Pay by cheque or bank transfer, never cash, and make sure the payee is the owner named in the title deed, not a relative or the broker. If there are two co-owners, both should sign the receipt. For a builder's new project the equivalent payment is the booking amount, which RERA governs and which follows different rules.
Keep the token small. Its job is to hold the property for two to four weeks while you verify documents and get the loan sanctioned. Anything larger, say 10% of the price, belongs in a proper agreement to sell, signed after the title has been checked.
A buyer agrees to purchase an ₹85 lakh resale 3 BHK in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad and pays a bayana of ₹1 lakh by NEFT to the registered owner. The receipt says the money comes back in full if the encumbrance certificate shows an outstanding loan, and that the agreement to sell must be signed within 21 days.
Handing the token to a broker in cash with nothing in writing about refunds. If the deal collapses there is no record of who took the money or on what terms.
Questions people ask about token amount
Is token money refundable if I back out?
Only if the written terms say so. Without a receipt that sets out refund conditions, the seller can claim it was forfeited when you withdrew, and recovering it means going to court.
How much token amount should I pay for a resale flat?
Between ₹25,000 and ₹1 lakh, or roughly 1% of the price, is normal. Keep it small until the title has been checked and the loan is in place.