How to verify a Mumbai project on MahaRERA before you buy

A Mumbai flat can be marketed with a brochure, a show flat and a price, and still be sold off a registration that has lapsed, been revoked, or never covered the building you are being shown. MahaRERA — the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority — runs the most active project registry and the highest order volume of any state regulator in India, and its project search is public and free. Before any token, booking amount or agreement, a Mumbai buyer can confirm in a few minutes whether the project is registered, whether that registration is still live, and what complaints and orders sit against the promoter. This guide covers what is specific to Mumbai and MahaRERA. For the generic state-by-state walkthrough — finding the right portal, the escrow declaration, the complaints tab — see PropWatch's main RERA verification guide linked below.

Run the search on the MahaRERA portal, not a property site

All Mumbai and wider Maharashtra projects register with MahaRERA at maharera.maharashtra.gov.in. The portal's project search lets a buyer query by project name, by MahaRERA registration number, or by promoter name, with district and project-type filters to narrow large result sets. Mumbai falls under Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban districts; a single promoter may carry separate registrations for each phase or wing, so search by registration number where you have it.

• Open maharera.maharashtra.gov.in and go to the Registered Projects search.
• Search by the MahaRERA registration number printed on the brochure — a Mumbai number takes the form 'P' followed by a long numeric string (for example P518... or P519...).
• If you do not have the number, search by exact project name, then by promoter name to see every project that promoter has registered.
• Filter by district (Mumbai City / Mumbai Suburban) and project type to isolate the right listing.
• Open the matching record with 'View' and pull the registration certificate and any extension certificate.

Read the registration status — registered is not the only state

The single most useful field is the project's current status. MahaRERA does not show a simple registered or not. Listings sit in distinct states, and each means something different for a buyer.

• Registered — registration is live; check the proposed completion date on the certificate and whether it has already passed.
• Lapsed — the registration expired and the promoter did not renew. A lapsed status on a Mumbai project still under construction is a documented red flag, not a clerical detail.
• Abeyance — registration suspended, commonly after a completion-date lapse, non-compliance, or an authority order; promoters cannot freely advertise or sell while in abeyance.
• Registration revoked / ab initio void — MahaRERA has cancelled the registration; treat the project as one to avoid pending independent legal advice.
• Deregistered — removed from the active registry; understand why before considering it.

On the same record, check the proposed and revised completion dates, the extension certificate (a Mumbai project on its second or third extension is signalling slippage), and the quarterly progress reports the promoter must upload. Stale or missing quarterly updates indicate non-compliance regardless of how the status field reads.

Check complaints and orders against the promoter

MahaRERA publishes complaints project-wise and promoter-wise, and its orders, rulings and judgements are separately searchable. Because the authority passes a high volume of refund and possession-delay orders, a Mumbai promoter's track record is usually documented somewhere on the portal. Read at the pattern level — a recurring history of interest-on-delay directions or unfulfilled compliance notices across a promoter's projects tells a buyer more than any single order.

• Search complaints both project-wise and promoter-wise — the project may be new while the promoter is not.
• Open the orders / rulings and judgements search to see directions passed and whether the promoter complied.
• Note any pattern of refund or delay-interest orders across the promoter's portfolio.
• Cross-check the bank account and the model agreement uploaded with the registration against what the sales team is asking you to sign.

The Mumbai-specific risks the status field will not flag

A live MahaRERA registration confirms the project is on the registry. It does not resolve the structural risks that recur in the Mumbai market, and these need separate checks.

SRA (slum redevelopment) projects

Slum Rehabilitation Authority projects carry their own approval chain — the SRA layout, the Letter of Intent and the Intimation of Approval — on top of MahaRERA registration. The sale component a buyer is purchasing depends on rehabilitation obligations to existing occupants being met. A MahaRERA listing does not confirm the SRA approvals are clear, so verify the SRA scheme status independently.

Society redevelopment delays

Redevelopment of an existing cooperative society depends on the development agreement, the society's consent, and rehabilitation of existing members before or alongside the sale flats. These projects register with MahaRERA, but member disputes and consent shortfalls sit outside the registry. Possession-delay risk is structurally higher here.

Occupancy certificate gaps and the MOFA-to-RERA legacy

Many older Mumbai buildings were sold under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA) before RERA took effect in 2017, and conveyance to the society was never completed — leaving title with the promoter. Separately, possession is routinely offered without an occupancy certificate. A MahaRERA registration does not cure either gap. Confirm the OC is in hand before taking possession, and check the conveyance position on legacy buildings.

A pre-purchase verification checklist

1. Confirm the project appears on maharera.maharashtra.gov.in by registration number, name and promoter.
2. Read the status field — registered, lapsed, abeyance, revoked or deregistered — and treat anything other than a live registration as a stop signal pending advice.
3. Check the proposed completion date and how many extension certificates have been granted.
4. Confirm quarterly progress reports are current.
5. Search complaints project-wise and promoter-wise, and review orders and rulings for a pattern.
6. For SRA projects, verify the SRA layout, LOI and IOA separately.
7. For society redevelopments, check the development agreement and member-consent position.
8. Confirm the occupancy certificate before possession, and the conveyance status on legacy MOFA buildings.
9. Cross-check the model agreement and project bank account on the portal against the documents you are asked to sign.

SourceMahaRERA — official portal and registered-projects search

SourceMahaRERA — registered projects search results page

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

SourcePropWatch — The occupancy certificate: what it is and why a buyer should refuse possession without it

SourcePropWatch — Mumbai real estate legal & MahaRERA report