How to verify a builder's RERA registration before you sign
A step-by-step walkthrough for checking RERA registration, project status, complaints and orders against any Indian builder on the relevant state portal.
PropWatch Editorial7 min read
Every residential project above eight units, or eight hundred square metres, must register with the state Real Estate Regulatory Authority before it can be marketed or sold. Section 3 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, makes this mandatory. A buyer can verify in five minutes whether a project is RERA-registered, whether its registration is current, and whether any complaints or orders have been recorded against the builder. This article walks through the process.
Step 1 — Find the right state RERA portal
RERA is a state subject, not a central one. The portal you visit depends on where the project is physically located, not where the builder is headquartered. Bangalore projects go to K-RERA; Mumbai and Pune to MahaRERA; Hyderabad to TS-RERA; and so on. Searching on the wrong state portal will return no results even for a properly registered project.
- Karnataka — rera.karnataka.gov.in
- Maharashtra — maharera.maharashtra.gov.in
- Telangana — rera.telangana.gov.in
- Tamil Nadu — rera.tn.gov.in
- Haryana — haryanarera.gov.in
- Uttar Pradesh — up-rera.in
Step 2 — Search by project name, builder name or registration number
Every state portal carries a public search interface. Builders quote the RERA number on every brochure and advertisement — it usually begins with the state code (PRM/KA/RERA/, P51800, etc.) and is followed by a long alphanumeric string. If the brochure does not display a RERA number, treat that as a red flag and stop the conversation until it is produced.
Step 3 — Read the registration details
Once you land on the project page, four things matter. First, the registration validity — RERA registration has an end date, and projects routinely lapse without renewal. Second, the promoter's CIN, address and litigation history. Third, the quarterly project progress reports the builder is required to upload — missing or stale reports indicate non-compliance. Fourth, the list of project bank accounts and the 70-percent escrow declaration mandated under Section 4.
Step 4 — Check the complaints and orders tab
This is the tab buyers most often skip. Every state RERA portal lists complaints filed against the project or promoter and the orders passed on them. A pattern of refund orders, interest-on-delay directions, or unfulfilled compliance notices is a documented track record that no brochure will mention.
Step 5 — If anything is missing, escalate before signing
If the project is unregistered, the registration has expired, project bank accounts are not disclosed, or there is a pattern of unfulfilled orders, do not proceed on verbal assurances. File a written query through the portal's grievance interface or seek independent legal advice before parting with money. The cost of pausing a deal is small; the cost of recovering against an unregistered project is substantial.
SourceRERA Act, 2016 — full text (Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs)
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