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Overview
Before 2016, buying an under-construction home in India was an act of faith. Brochures promised possession in three years; buyers waited eight. Money collected for one tower quietly funded the next plot purchase. Carpet area was a rumour — you paid for "super built-up" square feet that included the lift shaft. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 changed the terms of that relationship in one stroke: no project above a modest size can be advertised, booked or sold until it is registered with the state's Real Estate Regulatory Authority, 70% of buyer money is locked into a project-only bank account, and every promise the brochure makes becomes a disclosure on a public website.
Registration is the doorway into that system. For a promoter, it is the application in Form A — land titles, approvals, financials, professionals, timelines — that ends with a registration number you must print on every advertisement. For an agent, it is the Form G application that makes your brokerage legal. Get it wrong and the project stalls before launch: Section 59 punishes marketing an unregistered project with a penalty of up to 10% of the estimated project cost, and a continuing default can add another 10% or land someone in prison for three years.
This guide walks through who must register, what the authority asks for, what it costs state by state, and where applications most often trip. It reflects the position as of October 2026, including recent simplifications such as Bihar RERA's July 2026 overhaul and UP-RERA's new agent disclosure rules.
Who Must Register — The Section 3 Threshold
Section 3 draws the line plainly. You must register the project if the land proposed to be developed exceeds 500 square metres, or the number of apartments proposed exceeds eight — counting all phases together. A nine-flat building on 400 sqm needs registration. A plotted layout of 600 sqm with six plots needs it too.
Four exemptions exist, and they are narrow:
The promoter received the completion certificate before the Act commenced.
The land area is 500 sqm or less.
The apartment count is eight or fewer, inclusive of all phases.
The work is repair, re-development or renovation that involves no marketing, advertising or selling of any apartment, plot or building.
Everything else — residential, commercial, plotted, mixed-use — goes through the authority. Note the trap founders fall into: phasing does not dodge the threshold. If phase one has six flats and phase two has four, the project is twelve flats and registrable. Each phase is then registered separately.
Real estate agents have their own mandate under Section 9. No agent may facilitate the sale or purchase of a registered project without holding a state registration, and no agent may touch an unregistered project at all. The authority grants one registration per agent for the entire state or union territory.
What "Promoter" Covers — Wider Than You Think
Section 2(zk) defines promoter generously. It covers the person who constructs or causes construction for sale, the person who develops land into a project, development authorities and public bodies that sell plots or apartments, cooperative housing societies building for members, and anyone acting as builder, coloniser, contractor or developer on the landowner's behalf. Joint development agreements, where the landowner and builder split the saleable area, still need one promoter on the application — usually the developer, with the landowner's consent documents attached. If you are the landowner merely leasing land to a developer with no share in sales, get advice; the authority in several states has still pulled landowners into the promoter net.
The Registration Process — Eight Steps
Step 1 — Confirm applicability and pick the right state portal
Map your project against the 500 sqm / 8-apartment test and the exemptions. Then identify the correct authority: registration happens where the project sits. A project in Noida goes to UP-RERA, not MahaRERA. Every state runs its own portal — MahaRERA (maharera.mahaonline.gov.in), UP-RERA, HR-RERA, K-RERA, TNRERA, and so on. Create the promoter account early; several portals need email and mobile verification before the application form even opens.
Step 2 — Assemble the document set before touching the form
Authorities reject more applications for incomplete paperwork than for any substantive reason. Bihar RERA's chairperson said as much in July 2026 when the state rebuilt its filing system around a front-loaded checklist. Pull together the full set (detailed in the checklist section below): title deed, encumbrance certificate, sanctioned plans, layout, cost estimates, three years of financials, professional details, and the pro-forma agreement for sale. For ongoing projects, add the engineer, architect and CA certificates of work done so far.
Step 3 — Open the separate project bank account
Section 4(2)(l)(D) requires 70% of all amounts realised from allottees to be deposited in a separate account in a scheduled bank, to cover land cost and construction cost only. Open this account before filing — the application asks for its details, and several states want the account operational, not merely proposed. Money in this account can later sit in fixed deposits, but they must be no-lien deposits: no loan against them, no charge created.
Step 4 — File Form A with the declaration in Form B
The application goes in Form A (Form 1 in some states' numbering) with the declaration under Section 4(2)(l) in Form B, supported by affidavit. The declaration is the heart of the filing: legal title to the land, encumbrance-free status (or disclosed encumbrances), the time period within which you undertake to complete the project, and confirmation that 70% of collections will go to the separate account. Treat the completion date you declare seriously — it becomes the registration's validity period and the benchmark for delay compensation.
Step 5 — Pay the registration fee
Fees are state-specific and area-linked. Maharashtra's rulebook position: ₹10 per sqm of land proposed for development, minimum ₹50,000 and maximum ₹10 lakh; plotted developments were later reduced to ₹5 per sqm with a ₹10,000 minimum. Pay through the portal's digital modes (NEFT/RTGS/UPI as the state allows) and keep the challan — it is part of the application record.
Step 6 — Authority scrutiny — the 30-day clock
Section 5 requires the authority to grant registration or reject the application within 30 days, with reasons recorded for rejection. In practice the authority raises queries — title gaps, plan mismatches, cost estimate queries — and the clock effectively pauses while you respond. Bihar's July 2026 reform is instructive: the portal now shows the document checklist upfront, validates submissions automatically, and officials work from a catalogue of pre-formatted queries, precisely because vague back-and-forth was the biggest delay.
Step 7 — Receive the registration certificate and number
Approval comes as a registration certificate (Form C in Maharashtra's scheme) carrying the project registration number and its validity period — the period you declared for completion. That number must appear on every advertisement, prospectus, brochure and online listing from this point forward. The promoter also receives login credentials for the project's compliance dashboard, where quarterly updates will be filed for the life of the project.
Step 8 — Make the statutory disclosures and start compliant selling
Registration is not the finish line; it is the starting gun. Upload the sanctioned plans, layout, carpet-area details, approvals, project timeline and agreement for sale to the public portal. Cap advances at 10% of the unit cost until the written agreement for sale is executed (Section 13). Sell on carpet area only (Section 2(k)). And diarise the compliance calendar — quarterly progress reports begin from the first quarter after registration, which is where our companion guide on RERA compliance takes over.
Documents Checklist — What the Authority Actually Asks For
Promoter and entity documents: PAN of the promoter; certificate of incorporation / partnership deed / trust deed as applicable; MOA and AOA for companies; board resolution authorising the applicant; ITRs for the last three years and audited balance sheets (Bihar RERA now waives audited statements for companies under three years old, accepting directors' ITRs instead — a July 2026 relaxation); details of past projects completed in the last five years with their status; pending litigation disclosure.
Land documents: registered title deed or development agreement with the landowner's consent; encumbrance certificate (Karnataka asks for 30 years; most states want 12–13 — check yours); latest revenue records — Bihar now asks only for Jamabandi, current revenue receipt and non-encumbrance certificate, dropping mutation and possession certificates; conversion order where agricultural land is involved.
Project and technical documents: sanctioned building plan and layout from the competent authority; commencement certificate where applicable; NOCs — fire, environment, airport authority, water and electricity as relevant; detailed project cost estimate with land cost and construction cost split; stage-wise construction schedule; carpet-area statement for every unit type; parking and common-area details.
Professional and commercial documents: names, addresses and credentials of the architect, structural engineer, contractors and the chartered accountant; pro-forma allotment letter; pro-forma agreement for sale in the state's model format; declaration in Form B supported by affidavit.
For ongoing projects additionally: percentage of work completed certified by the engineer, architect and CA; details of units already sold with amounts collected; original sanctioned plans versus as-built status.
The 70% Escrow Rule — The Discipline That Changed the Industry
Think of the separate account as a safe with three locks, and the engineer, the architect and the chartered accountant each hold one key. Seventy per cent of every rupee collected from buyers goes into that safe. It can come out only to pay for the land and the construction of that project — not the promoter's next land parcel, not head-office overheads, not marketing. Each withdrawal must be proportionate to the percentage of completion, certified by all three professionals together. No single certificate justifies a withdrawal on its own.
Two details founders miss. First, the 70% applies to amounts realised from allottees — including the booking amounts. Second, the account is project-specific: a promoter running three projects maintains three separate accounts, and cross-subsidy between them is a violation. The authority can freeze the account on non-compliance, and several states now reconcile the CA-certified withdrawal statements against actual bank balances every quarter.
Agent Registration — The Broker's Licence
Section 9 makes agent registration compulsory, and the definition of agent is deliberately wide — anyone who negotiates, introduces buyers and sellers, or earns commission on a transfer. The application (Form G in Maharashtra) needs PAN, address proof, photograph, enterprise details with registration documents where applicable, three years of ITRs, and disclosure of pending civil or criminal cases. The certificate (Form H) is valid for five years across the whole state; renewal in Form J must reach the authority at least 60 days before expiry, with updated documents and the same fee.
Fees vary sharply by state and entity type. In Maharashtra, a February 2025 MahaRERA order reclassified sole proprietary concerns as "individual" — cutting their registration fee from ₹1 lakh to ₹10,000 — while partnership firms and companies continue at ₹1 lakh. Most other states charge individuals around ₹10,000 and entities around ₹50,000.
The compliance load on agents grew in 2026. UP-RERA's 11th amendment to its General Regulations (notified 19 June 2026) now requires registered agents to file periodic disclosures and maintain cash books, journals, ledgers and customer registers for at least five years — records the authority can inspect. Agents must also quote their registration number in every transaction they facilitate.
Section 6 allows the authority to extend registration where, without promoter default and for reasons recorded in writing, more time is genuinely needed. The statute names force majeure — war, flood, drought, fire, cyclone, earthquake, or any calamity caused by nature — and authorities have added public health emergencies (the COVID extensions are the precedent). Aggregate extensions cannot exceed one year, and no extension application can be rejected without giving the applicant a hearing.
Treat extension as a compliance event, not a formality. File before expiry with the revised timeline, updated cost estimates and the reason documented. Several states now assess extensions beyond twelve months more strictly — UP-RERA flagged this in its August 2026 compliance webinar — and habitual delay invites scrutiny of the escrow account rather than sympathy.
Revocation — How Registration Gets Cancelled
Section 7 lets the authority revoke registration on a complaint, suo motu, or on the recommendation of the competent authority, after 30 days' written notice stating the grounds. The grounds: default in doing anything required by the Act, violation of approval terms, unfair practices or misrepresentation, and fraudulent conduct. Revocation does not strand buyers — Section 8 requires the authority to step in, which can mean completing the remaining work through the buyers' association or a competent authority. For the promoter, revocation is close to a commercial death sentence on that project, which is why the notice-and-reply stage deserves senior attention.
Penalties — The Price of Skipping Registration
Default
Section
Penalty
Marketing/selling an unregistered project
59
Up to 10% of estimated project cost; continued default: further up to 10% or imprisonment up to 3 years, or both
False information or contravention of Section 4
60
Up to 5% of estimated project cost
Contravention of other provisions (promoter)
61
Up to 5% of estimated project cost
Agent: unregistered practice or Section 9/10 violation
62
₹10,000 per day of default, up to 5% of project cost
Non-compliance with authority orders
65
Up to 5% of estimated project cost
Non-compliance with Appellate Tribunal orders
66
Up to 1 year imprisonment, or fine up to 10% of estimated cost, or both
Company offences
69
Persons in charge deemed guilty unless lack of knowledge or due diligence is proved
Two practical notes. First, penalties are adjudicated — the authority issues notice and hears the promoter before quantifying. Second, several states have shown they will use the imprisonment limb for brazen cases: collecting crores on an unregistered project is the fact pattern that invites it.
2026 Regulatory Currents Worth Knowing
The framework is stable, but the plumbing keeps changing. Bihar RERA's July 2026 simplification — checklist-first portal, fewer land documents, ITR-based financials for young companies, single-affidavit disclosures — is the clearest signal that authorities want more registrations, not harder ones. UP-RERA is moving the other way on supervision: the 11th amendment (June 2026) pulled agents into quarterly disclosure, and the authority's August 2026 webinar walked promoters through the full QPR/REG-1/REG-2/REG-3/REG-5 cycle while previewing a "UP-RERA 2.0" portal with structured digital compliance. MahaRERA's 2025 agent-fee rationalisation for sole proprietors is now fully in effect. The direction of travel is consistent: easier entry, tighter ongoing monitoring.
Timelines — What to Actually Plan For
Stage
Realistic window
Document assembly (first-time promoter)
2–4 weeks
Escrow account opening
1–2 weeks (parallel)
Portal filing (Form A + B)
2–3 days
Authority scrutiny and queries
2–4 weeks
Registration certificate
Within 30 days of complete application (statutory)
Agent registration
2–6 weeks depending on state
How ComplyKart Helps — and What We Do Not Do
We prepare the full application: applicability check against the threshold and exemptions, document gap analysis, the Form A filing with the Form B declaration and affidavits, escrow account coordination with your bank, fee computation per your state's slab, query responses during scrutiny, and the post-registration disclosure uploads. For agents, we handle Form G filings and diary the Form J renewal sixty days out.
What we do not do: we do not certify construction progress or sign the engineer/architect/CA certificates — those need your appointed professionals' physical verification. We do not guarantee approval timelines; the 30-day statutory clock runs on the authority, and query rounds depend on your documents. And we do not advise you to structure around the threshold — phasing a twelve-flat project as two six-flat filings to dodge registration is exactly the mischief Section 3's "inclusive of all phases" language targets.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
20 answers from our consultants.
You pay for our expert's time — document checking, filing, follow-ups — not the government. The government fee goes to the government; our fee is for the work we do so you don't have to figure it out yourself.
No — only above the threshold. Projects on land exceeding 500 square metres or with more than 8 apartments must register; smaller projects, pre-Act completed projects, and pure repair work without marketing are exempt.
More than 500 square metres. At exactly 500 sqm or below, with 8 or fewer apartments, registration is not required under Section 3.
No. Section 3 prohibits advertising, marketing, booking, selling or inviting purchases before registration. Pre-launch "expressions of interest" that collect money have been penalised as disguised bookings.
Form A is the application, Form B is the declaration supported by affidavit, and the certificate of registration is issued in Form C (Maharashtra numbering; some states renumber these as Forms 1–3).
Section 5 requires a decision — grant or reasoned rejection — within 30 days of application. Query rounds on incomplete filings extend the practical timeline to 4–8 weeks.
Seventy per cent of all money collected from buyers must be deposited in a separate scheduled-bank account and used only for the land cost and construction cost of that project, with withdrawals certified by an engineer, an architect and a chartered accountant.
Anyone who develops or causes development for sale — builders, developers, development authorities, cooperative societies, and persons acting on a landowner's behalf — under Section 2(zk).
Yes. Section 9 bars any agent from facilitating transactions in RERA projects without state registration, and agents may not deal in unregistered projects at all.
Five years for the entire state, renewable in Form J at least 60 days before expiry with updated documents and the renewal fee.
PAN, address proof, photograph, enterprise registration documents where applicable, three years of ITRs, and disclosure of pending civil or criminal cases.
Yes, under Section 6 for force majeure or no-default reasons recorded in writing, up to one year in aggregate. Extension beyond that needs a fresh look — several states now assess long extensions strictly.
The authority acts under Section 8 to protect buyers — typically by enabling the buyers' association or a competent authority to complete the project. The promoter faces penalties and effectively loses the project.
Up to 10% of the estimated project cost under Section 59, plus up to another 10% or imprisonment up to three years for continued default.
Effectively yes. It sets the registration's validity and becomes the benchmark for delay interest and compensation under Section 18. Declare a date you can defend.
Yes. Multi-phase projects need each phase registered, and the 8-apartment/500 sqm threshold counts all phases together — you cannot split phases to stay below it.
Yes, but only as no-lien fixed deposits — no loans against them and no charge created. The CA must verify and certify the no-lien status periodically.
The July 2026 overhaul introduced a checklist-first portal with validation, cut land documents to Jamabandi plus revenue receipt plus non-encumbrance certificate, waived audited statements for companies under three years old, and replaced multiple affidavits with one.
In Uttar Pradesh, yes — the 11th amendment to UP-RERA's General Regulations (June 2026) requires registered agents to maintain prescribed books and records for five years and make periodic disclosures. Other states are expected to follow.
The Act does not bar foreign promoters, but the entity must be capable of holding land title under Indian law (FEMA and state land laws apply), and all the usual documents — title, approvals, financials — must be furnished. Most foreign entrants use an Indian subsidiary as promoter.
What clients say about working with us
Real stories from businesses we've worked with.
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