PLC, FRC, IDC and other charges on a price sheet

1.12.1 What does PLC mean in a real estate price sheet?

PLC means preferential location charge. It is a premium that a builder adds for the position of a unit: a corner flat, a park or pool view, a road-facing unit or a stated compass facing. No Karnataka law in force defines PLC or sets its amount. The flat cost sheet guide explains the line-by-line method to check a PLC entry: how it is calculated, which area it multiplies, whether it sits inside the agreement value, and what happens if the builder changes your unit. This guide does not repeat that method. It is a glossary: it names every common code on a Bangalore price sheet, says what each one is, and says whether it is a one-time price item, a deposit, a tax or a recurring charge. Use it to read a price sheet you already have in hand. The codes below cover PLC, FRC, IDC, utility charges, club and car park charges, deposits, GST and government charges.

Code	What it usually means	Category
BSP	Base sale price, a rate per area multiplied by the unit’s area	One-time price item
PLC	Preferential location charge, a premium for position or view	One-time price item
FRC	Floor rise charge, a premium per floor above a base floor	One-time price item
IDC	Infrastructure development charge, for roads, drainage and project infrastructure	One-time price item
BESCOM / BWSSB charge	Cost of the electricity or water utility connection	One-time price item
DG backup charge	Cost of a diesel generator connection for power backup	One-time price item
Club house / amenity charge	Payment for the clubhouse and shared facilities	One-time price item (recurring club fee can be a separate line)
Car park charge	Price for a parking space	One-time price item
Legal / documentation charge	Builder’s cost to prepare the agreement and related papers	One-time price item
Corpus fund	A sum held for the common areas, meant to pass to the owners’ association	Deposit
Advance maintenance	Maintenance billed for a set number of months ahead	Deposit (gets used up)
GST	Tax on construction service	Tax
Stamp duty and registration	Government charges on the agreement and the sale deed	Tax / government charge

1.12.2 What is FRC and how is it different from PLC?

FRC is a floor rise charge, a premium a builder adds for each floor above a stated base floor. PLC is a preferential location charge, a premium for a feature of the unit’s position: a corner plot, a view, a facing or a road frontage. Sachi’s reading: builders often quote FRC as a fixed amount per square foot for every floor past the base floor, and PLC as a fixed amount or a lump sum tied to one feature of the unit. No Karnataka law in force defines either term or fixes a formula, so the labels alone tell you nothing about the amount. The flat cost sheet guide sets out the four questions to ask for any premium line: how it is calculated, which area it multiplies, whether it is part of the agreement value, and what happens if the builder changes your floor or unit. Ask those same four questions for every PLC and FRC line on your sheet.

Reading this for a real project? Get the all-in price of any project from Sachi, free →

1.12.3 What does IDC mean, and is it the same as EDC?

IDC usually means infrastructure development charge, a price-sheet line for the cost of roads, drainage, water lines and electrical infrastructure built inside the project. EDC, used in some other Indian states such as Haryana, usually means external development charge, for infrastructure outside the project boundary that a state development authority levies. Sachi did not find a Karnataka law in force that defines IDC or EDC for a private residential project, or that sets a rate for either. Sachi’s reading: in Bangalore, builders use IDC as an internal price-sheet term, not a government levy, so the amount and its basis are set by the builder, not by a published tariff. Ask the builder what IDC covers for your project, whether it duplicates a BESCOM or BWSSB connection charge already on the sheet, and whether it is part of the agreement value.

1.12.4 What are BESCOM, BWSSB, DG and club charges?

BESCOM and BWSSB charges recover the cost of your flat’s electricity and water utility connections. BESCOM is the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, and BWSSB is the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board. Sachi’s reading: a price-sheet line for these connections can be the actual deposit the builder pays to the utility, or a fixed markup the builder adds, and the sheet alone does not tell you which. Ask for the connection receipt once the flat is connected, and compare it with what you paid. A DG backup charge pays for a diesel generator connection that gives you power during an outage; ask what load (in kVA or amps) it buys for your flat, and whether a monthly fuel or running charge is separate.

A club house or amenity charge pays for the shared clubhouse and its facilities, such as a gym, a swimming pool or a party hall. Corpus fund and advance maintenance covers the deposit lines that often sit next to the club charge on a price sheet, and the two are not the same thing. A one-time club charge on the price sheet can still be followed by a separate, recurring club membership fee after handover. Ask whether that recurring fee exists, and its amount, before you sign. For a car park charge, ask which space is yours, covered or open, and whether it is named in the agreement for sale.

1.12.5 What does the law say the agreement must cover?

The RERA Act, 2016 sets the contents of the agreement for sale, but it does not list or define price-sheet codes such as PLC or FRC. Section 13(2) says the agreement for sale must state the particulars of development of the project, the specifications, and the internal and external development works. It must state the dates and the manner of your payments, and the possession date. Section 14(2)(i) bars the builder from making an addition or alteration to the sanctioned plans, layout plans, specifications, fixtures or amenities of your flat, after they are disclosed to you, without your previous consent. The proviso allows two kinds of minor changes only: a change you ask for, and a change for architectural or structural reasons that an authorised Architect or Engineer certifies. So if a premium such as a PLC is tied to a feature (a view, a plan layout) that the builder later changes without your consent, Section 14(2)(i) is the provision to raise.

Form C of the Karnataka Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017 is the registration certificate issued to a project. Its condition (a) says the promoter “shall enter into an agreement for sale with the allottees as provided in Annexure A”. Sachi opened the 40-page copy of the 2017 Rules on the K-RERA portal and did not find that Annexure A, so this guide cannot quote its clause on what the total price includes. Treat the proforma agreement that the builder files on the project’s K-RERA page, under the Uploaded Documents tab, as the practical baseline instead. The agreement for sale guide explains how to compare your draft against that filed proforma, clause by clause.

Check whether a price-sheet code, such as PLC or a club charge, is counted inside the 10 percent booking cap that Section 13(1) sets if the builder asks for it at booking.

Rule	What it says	Section
Agreement contents	Development particulars, specifications, payment dates and manner, possession date	RERA Act, 13(2)
Change to your flat	Needs your previous consent, with two narrow exceptions	RERA Act, 14(2)(i)
Model agreement	Promoter must use the form in Annexure A (not found in the 40-page Rules copy Sachi opened)	Karnataka RERA Rules, Form C condition (a)

1.12.6 Is GST charged on PLC, parking and club charges?

GST on a flat applies to the construction service, and the rate the builder charges on each price-sheet line depends on the GST treatment of that line. Schedule II, paragraph 5(b) of the CGST Act, 2017 treats construction of a building for sale as a supply of service, taxable until the entire price is paid after the completion certificate or first occupation. The GST on flat purchase guide sets out the 5 percent and 1 percent effective rates and how they are calculated. For the affordable-housing test, Notification 11/2017, paragraph 4, clause (xvi) sets a gross amount limit of ₹45 lakh in Bengaluru. The notification lists the amount charged by the builder for preferential location, development, parking and common facility charges as part of that gross amount test. So PLC, IDC and parking charges count toward whether your flat qualifies for the 1 percent rate.

Sachi did not find a primary source that lists, line by line, which GST rate applies to a corpus fund, an advance maintenance deposit or a legal documentation charge separately from the base construction service. Sachi’s reading: a deposit, such as a corpus fund, is money held for later use and is not itself a payment for the construction service, so GST should not apply to that line in the same way as it applies to the base price. Ask the builder, in writing, which lines on your price sheet carry GST, at what rate, and the legal basis for each.

1.12.7 What does a worked example price sheet look like?

This is an example with made-up, round numbers for a unit of 1,000 square feet of carpet area in Bangalore. It is not a real project, and no builder or project is named or implied. The numbers are round figures chosen only to show the arithmetic, not a market rate for any area of the city. The example lists the base price, the common premiums, parking, club charges, utility connection charges, GST and the two deposit lines, so you can see how each code adds to the total you pay before you sign. The last row separates the price items you owe from the deposits that are held, not spent, on your behalf. Use the same layout and order for your own price sheet, with your own figures in place of these example numbers, so you can compare two builders fairly.

Line	Amount	Note
BSP (base sale price, 1,000 sq ft at ₹8,000/sq ft)	₹80,00,000	Price for the base unit
FRC (floor rise, 10th floor at ₹50/sq ft)	₹50,000	1,000 sq ft × ₹50
PLC (park-facing corner unit)	₹1,50,000	Lump sum in this example
Car park (one covered space)	₹2,00,000	Example rate
Club house / amenity charge	₹1,00,000	Example rate
BESCOM + BWSSB connection charges	₹60,000	Example rate
Subtotal before GST	₹85,60,000	Sum of the lines above
GST at 5% (non-affordable flat)	₹4,28,000	5% of the subtotal, in this example
Agreement value (BSP + premiums + GST)	₹89,88,000	Subtotal plus GST
Corpus fund (deposit)	₹1,00,000	Not a price item; held for the association
Advance maintenance (12 months, example rate)	₹60,000	Deposit, used up over 12 months
Stamp duty and registration (example, check current rates)	Varies	See the stamp duty guide
Total payable in this example	₹91,48,000 plus stamp duty and registration	Agreement value plus deposits

Keep the deposits (corpus fund, advance maintenance) in a separate column from the price items, because they are not part of the sale price and their treatment at handover differs, as the corpus fund guide explains.

1.12.8 What are the red flags on a price sheet?

Check for four red flags before you pay. First, a charge that appears on the price sheet but not in the agreement for sale: this is harder to enforce, because Section 13(2) of the RERA Act makes the agreement, not the price sheet, the binding document on payments. Second, a charge calculated on super built-up area when the agreement for sale states carpet area: Section 2(k) defines carpet area, and a mismatch in area basis can inflate what you pay per square foot without your noticing. Third, GST charged on a line that is a deposit, such as a corpus fund or a maintenance advance, rather than on a line that is a payment for construction service: ask for the legal basis. Fourth, a PLC for a feature that is not on the sanctioned plan, such as a “park view” premium for a plot that is not approved as a park: ask to see the sanctioned layout plan before you pay for the feature.

1. List every code on your price sheet and mark it as a one-time item, a deposit, a tax or a recurring charge.
2. Ask which area (carpet or super built-up) each code multiplies.
3. Check that every code on the price sheet also appears in the agreement for sale.
4. Ask the builder to show the sanctioned plan for any location-based premium, such as a PLC for a view.
5. Ask, in writing, which lines carry GST and at what rate.

Red flag	Why it matters
Charge on the price sheet but missing from the agreement for sale	Harder to enforce; the agreement is the binding document under Section 13(2)
Charge calculated on super built-up area, when the agreement states carpet area	Inflates the per-square-foot cost without a matching change in usable space
GST charged on a deposit line, such as a corpus fund	Ask for the legal basis; a deposit is not itself a payment for construction service
PLC for a feature not on the sanctioned plan	The feature may not get approved or built as shown

Short on time? Get the all-in price of any project from Sachi, free →

1.12.9 Does this matter if you are buying a resale flat?

Yes, in one respect. A resale price can still carry the same codes from the original price sheet, such as a PLC or a car park charge the first buyer paid, now folded into the asking price as a single number. Corpus fund and advance maintenance covers what happens to deposits like these at resale, including whether an unused balance can pass to a new owner. Check the seller’s original price sheet and agreement, where available, to see which codes were one-time price items and which were deposits that may or may not transfer with the sale. Ask the seller for the original builder documents before you agree on a resale price, not after. A full guide for resale buyers is coming soon.

Sachi reads a builder’s price sheet against its K-RERA filing and points out which lines to question. To check your price sheet for a Bangalore project, Ask Sachi.