How to verify a Delhi project on Delhi-RERA before you buy

The Real Estate Regulatory Authority for the National Capital Territory of Delhi — Delhi-RERA — publishes a public list of registered projects and registered agents at rera.delhi.gov.in, and anyone can search it free before paying a token. Delhi's registered list is far shorter than Gurugram's or Noida's, and that is a feature of the market rather than a gap in the portal: most of Delhi is already built up, much of its residential stock is DDA-developed, plotted, or in the form of builder-floors below the registration threshold, and projects completed before the Act took effect are outside it. For a Delhi buyer, the practical task is therefore twofold — search the register when the project is one that should be on it, and, when a project is not on the register, establish which lawful reason explains the absence. This guide covers what is specific to Delhi and Delhi-RERA. For the generic state-by-state walkthrough — the escrow declaration, the complaints tab, the model agreement — see PropWatch's main RERA verification guide linked below.

Search the Delhi-RERA portal, not a property listing site

RERA is a state subject, so a project physically in Delhi registers with Delhi-RERA regardless of where the builder is headquartered. The authority's official portal is rera.delhi.gov.in, and its public-view search lets a buyer look up registered projects and registered real estate agents without logging in. A registered project can be searched by district, by project name, by promoter name and by the RERA registration number the builder is required to quote on every advertisement and brochure.

• Open rera.delhi.gov.in and go to the public view for registered projects.
• Search by the Delhi-RERA registration number printed on the brochure, or by project name, promoter name and district.
• Open the matching record and pull the registration certificate, the registration validity dates, the sanctioned plans and any extension granted.
• Check the quarterly progress updates the promoter is required to file, which the portal lists by year and district.
• Search the registered-agents list separately by the agent's name or registration number, and deal only with an agent who is on it.

Why Delhi's registered list is short — and what that means for a buyer

A buyer who searches Delhi-RERA and finds few projects, or does not find a specific one, should not read that as the portal being incomplete. Delhi's registered list is genuinely short relative to Gurugram and Noida, for structural reasons. Delhi is largely built up, with limited land for the kind of large under-construction private group-housing that fills the Gurugram and Noida registers. A large share of Delhi's housing was developed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) or built as plotted development and independent builder-floors — typically one to four floors on a single plot — rather than as promoter-led apartment projects. And many private colonies were completed years before the Act came into force.

The consequence is that a Delhi project being absent from the register is not automatically illegal — but a buyer must establish which lawful reason applies, because the alternative is that the project should be registered and is not. There are three lawful reasons a project can sit outside Delhi-RERA registration:

• It is below the size threshold. Under Section 3(2)(a) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, registration is not required where the land proposed to be developed does not exceed 500 square metres or the number of apartments proposed does not exceed eight — which is why many Delhi builder-floors and small plots fall outside registration.
• It was completed before the Act. Under Section 3(2)(b), registration is not required where the promoter received a completion certificate for the project before the Act commenced. Courts have distinguished a completion certificate from a mere occupancy certificate here, so the exemption turns on the actual document held.
• It is not a promoter-led 'real estate project' at all — a resale of a single independent house or floor, or a DDA allotment, is a different transaction from buying into a promoter's registrable project.

The builder-floor, plotted and DDA angle

Because so much Delhi stock is builder-floors, plotted development and DDA housing, a large part of a Delhi buyer's diligence sits outside RERA entirely, and the shortness of the register makes that non-RERA diligence more important, not less. A builder-floor sold on a small plot may lawfully never appear on Delhi-RERA, yet still carry the ordinary title, sanction and freehold-versus-leasehold questions that decide whether the purchase is safe.

• Title chain and freehold status — confirm the ownership chain and whether the plot is freehold or leasehold, and, for a DDA or cooperative-society flat, that the conversion and transfer permissions are in order.
• Sanctioned building plan and floor count — confirm the number of floors and the built-up area match the sanctioned plan, since unauthorised extra floors and coverage are a recurring Delhi problem regardless of RERA.
• Encumbrances — obtain a search of registered charges and mortgages on the property before any advance.
• The agent — even where the project itself is exempt, a real estate agent operating in Delhi is expected to be registered with Delhi-RERA; verify the agent on the register.

RERA registration and municipal completion are different things

A live Delhi-RERA registration confirms the project is on the regulator's register. It does not, on its own, confirm that the building is approved as built and fit for occupation. The completion certificate and occupancy certificate are issued by the sanctioning municipal authority — in Delhi typically the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Council or the DDA depending on the area — not by Delhi-RERA. Possession is routinely offered before these are in hand, and a RERA registration does not cure that gap. Without a completion or occupancy certificate, services, mutation and resale can stall, and the structure may carry unauthorised deviations from the sanctioned plan. Confirm the certificate has been granted by the sanctioning authority before taking possession.

When a builder misses a committed possession date on a registered project, a buyer's remedies sit under Section 18 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 — continue and claim interest for the delay, or withdraw and seek a refund with interest. A complaint against a registered project or agent can be filed through the complaints facility on the Delhi-RERA portal, and orders of the authority and the appellate tribunal are part of the public record on the same portal.

A pre-purchase verification checklist

1. Confirm the project is physically in Delhi and search rera.delhi.gov.in under registered projects by registration number, or by project, promoter and district.
2. Read the registration validity dates, sanctioned plans and quarterly progress updates on the portal record, not the brochure.
3. Where the project is not on the register, establish the specific lawful reason — Section 3(2)(a) size threshold, Section 3(2)(b) pre-Act completion certificate, or a non-registrable resale or DDA transaction — and confirm it against the documents rather than assuming it.
4. For a builder-floor, plotted or DDA property, run the non-RERA diligence: title chain, freehold or leasehold status, sanctioned plan and floor count, and a search of encumbrances.
5. Verify any real estate agent on the Delhi-RERA registered-agents list before dealing through them.
6. Confirm the completion or occupancy certificate has been issued by the sanctioning municipal authority before taking possession.
7. Review complaints and orders against a registered project or promoter for a pattern of Section 18 refund or delay-interest directions.
8. Cross-check the model agreement and project bank account filed with the registration against the documents you are asked to sign.

SourceDelhi-RERA — Real Estate Regulatory Authority for NCT of Delhi, official portal

SourceDelhi-RERA — public search for registered projects and agents

SourceSection 3, Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 — prior registration and the exemption thresholds

SourcePropWatch — How to verify a builder's RERA registration before you sign (generic state-by-state guide)

SourcePropWatch — How to verify a Gurugram project on HARERA before you buy

SourcePropWatch — How to verify a Noida or Greater Noida project on UP-RERA before you buy

SourcePropWatch — Delhi-NCR real estate legal & RERA report