RERA Project Registration for Developers (2026): Process, Categories, State Portals and Penalties

A Pune developer has the land, the sanction plan and a launch date fixed for the festive season. Then the legal team asks the question that decides whether any of it can happen: is the RERA registration in place? Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, a promoter cannot advertise, market, book or sell a registered-category project until it carries a registration number from the state authority. This guide is the developer-side walkthrough: who must register, how the process runs, what each state portal expects, and what an unregistered or non-compliant project costs you.

If you want the buyer-side view of what RERA is and why it exists, read our explainer on RERA objectives and rules. Here we focus on what a promoter has to do.

Who must register: the thresholds and categories

Section 3 of the Act requires registration for any real estate project where the land is more than 500 square metres or the project has more than eight apartments, including every phase. Registration must be in place before you advertise, market, book, offer for sale or invite people to buy. Some states have set thresholds that interact with these numbers, so always confirm against your state rules.

The question that keeps appearing in search, for example a developer launching a 100-apartment residential project, resolves simply: it is far above the eight-apartment limit, so it needs registration as a project, and each phase with its own completion timeline is registered separately. A few categories sit outside the requirement:

• Small projects: land up to 500 sq m and no more than eight apartments.
• Projects with a completion certificate: where a completion or occupancy certificate was received before the Act commenced.
• Renovation and repair: work that does not involve marketing, advertising or sale of units.
• Phased projects: ongoing phases needed registration, so each phase is treated as a standalone project for registration purposes.

Do not treat exemptions as a default. If your plan changes, for example adding floors that push the apartment count over eight, the exemption can fall away and registration becomes mandatory.

The registration process, step by step

Every state authority runs its own portal, but the sequence is broadly the same. Most developers lose time not on the application itself but on gathering clean documents.

1. Prepare the documents

• Promoter details, PAN, and registration or incorporation documents of the company or LLP.
• Title documents and encumbrance proof for the land, with details of the land owner if different from the promoter.
• Sanctioned layout plan, building plan approvals, and commencement certificate.
• Proposed timeline for each phase and the declared date of possession.
• Details of architect, engineer, and chartered accountant, plus the project's cost estimate certified by professionals.
• Draft agreement for sale and allotment letter formats, as per the state's model.

2. File the application on the state portal

You register through the portal of the authority for the state where the project sits, for example MahaRERA in Maharashtra, K-RERA in Karnataka, RERA Tamil Nadu, UP-RERA, HRERA in Haryana, or the Bihar RERA portal. Fees depend on the state and usually scale with the project's land area or built-up size, so check the current schedule on the portal before you budget.

3. Wait for scrutiny and a decision

Under Section 5, the authority must grant registration or reject the application within thirty days of receiving a complete application. If it does neither, the project is deemed registered, and the authority is to issue a registration number. Incomplete applications reset the clock, which is why document hygiene matters more than speed.

4. Display and use the registration number

Once you have it, the registration number must appear on every advertisement, brochure, website page and agreement. Your marketing team should treat it as a mandatory field, not an afterthought.

Money rules that shape your project plan

The Act changes how a developer handles collections. Under Section 4, you must deposit 70 percent of amounts collected from buyers into a separate designated bank account, to be used only to cover the cost of construction and land. Withdrawals need a certification from an engineer, architect and chartered accountant that matches the work done. Practically, this means your collections data and your construction progress data must reconcile at any time.

A registration is also valid for the period you declared. If a project is delayed, Section 6 allows an extension of up to one year in specific cases such as force majeure, and beyond that the authority can intervene and, under Section 7, revoke the registration for serious breaches.

Ongoing obligations after you register

• Quarterly updates: state authorities such as MahaRERA require periodic updates on construction progress, units sold and funds, so plan a monthly internal reconciliation.
• Annual audit: accounts for the project are expected to be audited by a chartered accountant.
• Accurate disclosure: the brochure, price list and agreement must match what you declared. Section 12 makes you liable if a buyer relies on a false statement.
• Timely agreement for sale: you cannot take more than 10 percent of the cost as an advance before executing a registered agreement for sale.

Penalties: what non-compliance costs

The penalties are significant enough to affect project economics:

• Not registering (Section 59): a penalty that can go up to 10 percent of the estimated project cost, and continued default can lead to imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both.
• Providing false information or violating registered terms (Section 60): a penalty up to 5 percent of the estimated project cost.
• Other contraventions (Section 61): a penalty up to 5 percent of the estimated project cost.
• Delay or defect: under Section 18, buyers can claim a refund with interest or compensation if you miss the possession date. The interest rate is set by state rules.

The authority also publishes defaulters and can stop the sale of units, which cuts off collections at the point you need them most. Because penalties are tied to project cost, a mid-size Rs 200 crore project can face an exposure running into tens of crores for one missed compliance.

How sales and CRM records feed RERA disclosures

Most RERA stress comes from data held in scattered files. The authority expects to see units sold, collections, and agreement details that tie out to what you declared. If your inventory sits in one sheet and your bookings in another, every quarterly update becomes a manual exercise, and mismatches become the audit trail against you.

A CRM that holds one record per unit, from enquiry to booking to collection, closes that gap. With Sell.do, inventory availability, cost sheets, bookings and payment schedules sit in one system, so the figures you report match what your sales team actually booked. For the sales-side workflow, see how a developer's CRM with inventory management keeps unit status current, and our guides on post-sales management and the project launch playbook. If you are weighing tooling for compliance work, our overview of real estate compliance software covers what to look for.

A practical pre-launch checklist

• Confirm whether the project or phase crosses the 500 sq m or eight-apartment threshold.
• Collect title, sanction and professional certificates before opening the portal.
• Open the separate 70 percent account before the first booking amount is collected.
• Add the registration number to the brochure, website, ads and landing pages.
• Set a monthly reconciliation of units sold, collections and construction progress.
• Keep one source of truth for inventory and bookings, so every quarterly update is a report, not a project.

Related reading

• Understanding RERA in Real Estate: Objectives and Rules
• Real Estate Compliance Software for Management and Brokerages
• Real Estate Project Launch Playbook 2026

Compliance is easier when your sales, inventory and collections data live in one place. See how Sell.do's AI-agentic CRM built for Indian real estate keeps unit status, bookings and payment schedules reconciled, so your RERA updates match what your team actually sold. Book a walkthrough at https://www.sell.do/ to see it on your own project data.