What RERA actually protects — and what it does not

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 came into force in May 2017 and is administered state by state. It is the most consequential consumer-protection law this sector has ever had, and it is routinely oversold by people quoting it at you.

The four protections that matter

1. 1The escrow rule. 70% of every rupee collected from buyers for a project must sit in a separate account and can only be withdrawn against certified construction progress, signed off by an engineer, an architect and a chartered accountant. This is what stopped developers funding project B with project A's money — the single biggest cause of stalled projects before 2017.
2. 2Carpet area, defined. Price must be quoted and agreed on carpet area as the Act defines it, ending the super-area shell game in the agreement itself.
3. 3Symmetric penalties for delay. If the developer misses the possession date in the agreement, they owe you interest at the same rate you would owe them for a late instalment — typically SBI's marginal cost of funds plus 2%. Before RERA the contract penalty was ₹5 per sq ft per month against your 18% per annum. You may also withdraw entirely and demand a full refund with interest.
4. 4A five-year defect liability. Any structural defect or poor workmanship reported within five years of possession must be rectified at the developer's cost within 30 days, without charge.

What RERA does not do

• It does not vet the quality of construction before you buy. Registration is a disclosure regime, not a quality certificate.
• It does not cover projects under 500 sq m or under eight units, and it does not cover a plot or a completed building that already has its Occupancy Certificate.
• It does not police the price. There is no cap and no obligation to be fair on rate.
• It does not resolve title. A clear RERA registration and a defective title can coexist — that is what the legal search is for.
• It does not automatically extend to a project registered before the Act, unless that project was incomplete on the commencement date and required registration.
• Enforcement varies sharply by state. Maharashtra's MahaRERA is well-staffed and orders get executed; several states' authorities are slower, and an order is only as good as its execution.

How to actually check a project

1. 1Take the registration number from the hoarding or brochure and look it up on the state authority's own portal — not on any aggregator, including us.
2. 2Check the declared completion date against what the salesperson told you. They differ more often than you would expect, and the declared date is the one that carries penalties.
3. 3Read the quarterly progress updates. A developer who has not filed one in three quarters is telling you something.
4. 4Check the promoter's other registered projects on the same portal for complaints and orders against them.
5. 5Confirm the registration is live, not lapsed. A lapsed registration means the developer cannot legally advertise or sell.