How to Read a RERA Listing Before You Pay a Rupee

Every state RERA portal publishes more than most buyers realise, and it is free to check. Ten minutes will tell you things no sales executive will volunteer.

Where to look

• Maharashtra: maharera.maharashtra.gov.in
• Karnataka: rera.karnataka.gov.in
• West Bengal: hira.wb.gov.in

Search by project name, promoter, or registration number. The registration number should be on every advertisement — if it is not, that is itself the answer.

The six fields that matter

1. Proposed date of completion

This is the date the promoter committed to in law, not the one in the brochure. Compare them. If the brochure says 2028 and the filing says 2030, the filing is what you can enforce.

2. Revised completion date

Promoters can apply to extend, and each extension is recorded. A project on its second or third extension is telling you something specific about the promoter's execution.

3. Quarterly progress reports

Filed every quarter: work completed against plan, units booked, money received, money spent. Read the last four. If booked percentage climbs while construction percentage stays flat, money is leaving the project — the clearest warning sign on any portal.

4. Litigation details

Promoters must disclose pending cases. Look at both the project and the promoter's other registrations. A pattern of consumer complaints across multiple projects is more informative than any single case.

5. Approved building plans and sanctioned FSI

Compare the sanctioned plan against what is being sold to you. Extra floors, a clubhouse or an amenity deck that is marketed but not sanctioned may never be built — and you will have no claim.

6. Encumbrance and title documents

The title report, search report and any mortgage on the land are uploaded. If the land is mortgaged, confirm the lender's no-objection will be available at your registration.

Three red flags that should stop a booking

1. Registration lapsed or expired and not renewed. The promoter cannot legally advertise or sell.
2. Booked percentage far ahead of construction percentage across consecutive quarters.
3. The promoter's earlier registrations showing multiple extensions and unresolved complaints.

A note on state differences

MahaRERA is the most mature and the fastest on complaint resolution. K-RERA in Karnataka is functional but slower, which makes developer track record matter more in Bengaluru. WBHIRA in West Bengal was reconstituted after a Supreme Court ruling struck down the earlier state act; filings before that transition are less complete, so check the promoter's history directly.

What we do on top of this

The portal tells you what is filed, not whether the filing is accurate. On every project we shortlist we commission an independent title search, verify the commencement certificate against the sanctioned plan at the corporation, check litigation history across all the promoter's registrations, and physically verify construction stage against the last quarterly report.

You get those documents in your shortlist pack. Ask any consultant for the same — and be cautious if they cannot produce it.