RERA, in plain English
By The Ameya Team · · 5 min read
A law written for exactly one reason: to move the risk of a project off the buyer and onto the developer.
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, RERA, is the framework that governs how homes and plots are sold across India. Each state runs its own authority (K-RERA in Karnataka, TNRERA in Tamil Nadu, and so on), but the spirit is the same everywhere: a developer must register a project before advertising, marketing or selling units in it, and must then build to what was promised.
In practice, registration is meant to give a buyer four things. A public record of the project, its approvals and its promoter, on the state authority’s website. A commitment that a large share of what you pay is held in a dedicated project account and spent on that project, not diverted elsewhere. Sale on the basis of carpet area, the space inside your walls, rather than inflated “super built-up” figures. And a defined route to remedy, with timelines and penalties, if the developer falls short.
So what does “registration in progress” mean? It means a project has not yet received its RERA number, and until it does, the law does not permit it to be advertised, booked or sold. A developer may still describe the company and its intentions in general, corporate terms, which is what an honest pre-registration website does, but it cannot take a booking or a rupee against an unregistered project. When you see a RERA number published, that is your cue to look the project up on the state portal and read the record for yourself.
The single most useful habit for any buyer: before you commit anywhere, find the project’s RERA registration number, enter it on the relevant state authority’s website, and confirm the promoter, the approvals and the timeline match what you were told.
General information, not legal advice. RERA rules vary by state and change over time; verify the current position with the relevant authority before acting.
← All piecesA letter on what RERA promises
By The Ameya Team · · 5 min read
Dear buyer — before you trust anyone with the largest cheque you will write, it is worth knowing exactly what the law already promises you.
For a long time in Indian real estate, the balance of information sat entirely with the developer. You were shown a brochure and a “super built-up” number; what you actually owned, and when it would arrive, was a matter of faith. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act of 2016 was written to change that balance. It does not make a project good or bad — that is still for you to judge — but it does put four promises in writing, and gives them teeth.
The first promise is a public record. Before a project may be advertised, booked or sold, its promoter must register it with the state authority — K-RERA in Karnataka, TNRERA in Tamil Nadu — and place the approvals, the plan, the promoter’s track record and the completion timeline on a public website. You are no longer asking the seller to describe themselves; you are reading the record.
The second promise is that your money is ring-fenced. A developer must keep seventy per cent of the money collected from buyers of a project in a separate account, to be drawn only for the construction and land cost of that same project, certified by an engineer, an architect and a chartered accountant at each stage. It is the single most important clause in the Act: it makes it far harder for money paid for your building to be diverted into someone else’s.
The third promise is honesty about area. Sale must be on the basis of carpet area — the usable space within your walls — not an inflated figure that quietly bundles in shared corridors and thin air. What you are quoted is meant to be what you can stand in.
The fourth promise is a timeline that costs the developer, not only you, if it slips. The registered completion date is a commitment; if the developer delays, they owe you interest for every month, and you may, in defined circumstances, withdraw and take your money back with interest. Delay stops being your problem alone.
None of this replaces your own diligence, and a project that has not yet received its registration number simply cannot be booked until it does. But when you see that number, these four promises come with it. Ask for it. Read the record. That is exactly the standard we intend to be held to.
General information, not legal advice. RERA provisions vary by state and change over time; verify the current position with the relevant authority before acting.
← All piecesA letter on the security it gives you
By The Ameya Team · · 5 min read
Dear buyer — a promise is only as good as the remedy behind it. Here is what RERA gives you when something goes wrong.
Rights matter most on the day they are tested. The quiet strength of RERA is not only what it asks a developer to promise, but the ladder of recourse it hands the buyer if those promises are not kept. You do not need to memorise the Act; you only need to know that these rungs exist.
A five-year warranty on the building itself. If a structural defect, or any deficiency in workmanship or service, appears within five years of you taking possession, the developer is obliged to put it right — at no further cost to you — and to do so promptly. A finished handover is not the end of their responsibility; it is the start of a five-year one.
A clear route to complain, without a courtroom. If a developer breaches the Act, you may file a complaint with the state Real Estate Regulatory Authority directly. For claims of compensation, an adjudicating officer hears the matter; the process is designed to be faster and far less expensive than ordinary litigation. If either side disagrees with the outcome, a dedicated Real Estate Appellate Tribunal sits above the Authority to hear appeals.
Interest, refund, or the choice to stay. Where a project is delayed beyond its registered date, the law gives you a genuine choice: continue, and receive interest for every month of delay, or withdraw and take back what you have paid, with interest. The developer cannot force you to absorb the cost of their delay.
Protection against the goalposts moving. Sanctioned plans and promised specifications cannot be altered at will; material changes generally require the consent of a defined majority of buyers. What you were sold is what is meant to be built.
And no advertising ahead of approval. Because a project may not be marketed or booked before registration, the law protects you from the oldest trap of all — paying into something that does not yet legally exist. The number is the gate.
Read together, these rungs turn a brochure into an accountable commitment. We write about them not because we expect to be tested on them, but because a developer who welcomes the test is the only kind worth trusting. When our project carries its registration number, we intend for you to hold us to every rung above.
General information, not legal advice. Remedies, periods and thresholds under RERA vary by state and change over time; take independent advice and verify the current position before acting.
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