RERA Checklist Before Booking an Under-Construction Flat

The cheque is ready. Should you sign?

You have shortlisted a project. The sample flat looked good, the sales manager was persuasive, and there is a "limited units left, book by this weekend" offer sitting on the table. Your bank has pre-approved a loan. The only thing left is the booking amount — usually 5-10% of the flat's value, sometimes ₹1-5 lakh as a token, paid before you even sign a formal agreement.

This is exactly the moment when a first-time buyer is most likely to skip due diligence. The excitement is high, the discount is time-bound, and reading legal disclosures feels like it can wait until "the actual agreement stage." It cannot. Once a booking amount changes hands, walking away later — even when a red flag surfaces — usually means forfeiting some or all of that money, plus months of back-and-forth.

The good news is that in India, since the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2013 (RERA), a lot of what you need to know about an under-construction project is public record. You do not need insider access or a lawyer's retainer to pull the registration number, the promoter's track record, the sanctioned plan, the timeline, and any litigation against the project. You need about 30-45 minutes and a checklist. This article is that checklist — built around what the RERA Act actually requires promoters to disclose, and where to find it before you commit a single rupee.

Why the RERA record is your best pre-booking tool

RERA was designed specifically to fix the information gap between a promoter (the builder/developer) and a buyer. Before 2016, buyers largely relied on brochures, verbal promises, and trust in a brand name. Under RERA, a promoter cannot advertise, market, book, sell, or offer for sale any plot, apartment, or building in a real estate project without first registering it with the state Real Estate Regulatory Authority — and registration requires the promoter to file the sanctioned layout, the land title, the promoter's own litigation history, and a project completion timeline that becomes the legal benchmark for delays.

This means every RERA-registered project has a public dossier sitting on a state portal, updated (at least in principle) with quarterly progress. According to IBEF's Real Estate Industry in India report (Feb 2026), India's real estate sector is on a rapid growth trajectory — the market is projected to grow from roughly US$200 billion (2021) toward US$1 trillion by 2030 — which also means transaction volumes on under-construction projects are rising fast, making buyer-side verification more important, not less. More projects, more promoters, more variance in execution discipline. Your job before booking is to read the record the promoter was legally required to create, and compare it against what the sales team is telling you.

The step-by-step checklist

Work through this in order. Each step below maps to a specific RERA disclosure requirement.

1. Confirm the RERA registration number and its validity. Every ongoing project above the notified size threshold (typically plots over 500 sq. m. or more than eight apartments, with some state-specific variations) must carry a RERA registration number. Ask the sales team for it, then verify it independently on the state RERA portal rather than trusting a printed brochure — registration numbers have a validity date tied to the promoter's own declared completion timeline, and an expired or "under renewal" registration is a signal to pause and ask why.

2. Check promoter details and other registered projects. The RERA filing lists the promoter/company name, registered office, and — on most state portals — other projects the same promoter has registered, including their completion status. A promoter with several delayed projects in their history is a fact you can only see this way; the sales pitch will not volunteer it.

3. Pull the approved layout and building plan. RERA filings include the sanctioned plan approved by the local development authority. Compare this against the floor plan and unit configuration you are being sold. Deviations — an extra floor, a changed amenity block, a different tower footprint — are worth a direct question before booking.

4. Check the declared completion timeline. This is the single most legally significant number in the filing. It is the date the promoter has committed to under RERA, and it is what triggers the buyer's right to interest-on-delay or refund if missed. Compare it against what the sales team quotes verbally — a mismatch is common and worth clarifying in writing.

5. Read the quarterly progress updates. Promoters are required to update construction and financial progress each quarter on the portal. If the last update is old, or shows minimal physical progress against a large chunk of units already "sold," that is a pattern worth noting.

6. Check for litigation disclosures. The RERA filing requires the promoter to disclose any pending litigation related to the project's land or title. This is often the most overlooked field on the portal, and the most important one for you to actually open and read.

7. Review the encumbrance and legal-title report. Many state portals attach or reference a legal title report / encumbrance certificate summary. This tells you whether the land is free of prior mortgages or disputes that could affect delivery.

8. Match the carpet-area disclosure. RERA mandates that pricing and sale agreements be based on carpet area (the actual usable floor area within the walls), not the older "super built-up area" convention that could be inflated with common-area loading. Confirm the carpet area figure quoted to you matches what is filed and what will appear in the agreement for sale.

9. Understand the 70% separate-account rule. Under Section 4(2)(l)(D) of the RERA Act, promoters must deposit at least 70% of the amounts realised from buyers for a project into a separate escrow-style bank account, to be used only for the construction and land cost of that project. This is meant to stop developers from diverting one project's buyer funds to another site or to unrelated business needs. It does not guarantee timely delivery, but it materially reduces the risk of funds being siphoned away from your project specifically.

Where each check lives: a quick-reference table

State portals: know where to look for your city

Each state runs its own RERA portal, and the interface and depth of disclosure vary. Common ones a first-time buyer should bookmark for their city: MahaRERA for Maharashtra (Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur), K-RERA for Karnataka (Bengaluru, Mysuru), TG-RERA for Telangana (Hyderabad), UP-RERA for Uttar Pradesh (Noida, Ghaziabad, Lucknow), HRERA for Haryana (Gurugram, Faridabad), and similarly named authorities for Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, and other states. Search by project name, promoter name, or registration number — most portals support all three. If you cannot locate a project on the portal at all, that itself is the most important finding of your entire pre-booking check.

A mini scenario: the check that revealed a lapsed timeline

Consider a buyer evaluating a 2BHK in a mid-sized under-construction project in an IT-corridor suburb. The sales brochure quoted possession "within 24 months." Pulling the RERA registration showed a declared completion date that had already lapsed by four months at the time of the site visit, with an extension application pending before the authority — a detail the sales team had not mentioned. The quarterly progress filings also showed the tower had been at roughly the same construction stage for two consecutive quarters. Neither fact alone proves the project is in trouble. Together, they were enough for the buyer to ask pointed questions before booking — about the extension reasons, the revised timeline, and the promoter's funding position — rather than finding out after paying the token amount.

Payment-stage discipline: don't front-load your risk

Beyond the registration checks, pay attention to how payment is structured. A construction-linked payment plan (where installments are tied to physical construction milestones — plinth, slab, brickwork, finishing) keeps your money aligned to visible progress and is generally lower-risk than a heavily front-loaded plan that asks for a large percentage upfront regardless of construction stage. Ask for the payment schedule in writing before booking, and cross-check it against the project's current quarterly progress to see whether the milestones being invoiced for have actually been reached on site.

Pro tips

• Screenshot or save-as-PDF every RERA portal page you review, dated, so you have your own record independent of what the sales office shows you later.
• If a project's registration number does not resolve on the portal, do not accept a "portal is under maintenance" explanation as final — try again on a different day, or call the RERA authority's helpline directly.
• Ask for the sale agreement draft before booking, not after, and confirm the carpet area and payment schedule match the filed disclosures.
• Cross-check the promoter's other listed projects for delivery patterns; a first project from a promoter carries different risk than their tenth.
• Note the RERA registration's validity/expiry date on your own calendar so you can follow up if it lapses during your purchase timeline.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Trusting a printed or verbal registration number without checking it live on the portal.
• Reading only the "project details" tab and skipping the litigation and progress sections.
• Assuming super built-up area quotes are the carpet area RERA requires in the agreement.
• Paying the booking amount before the sale agreement draft is shared and reviewed.
• Ignoring a stale quarterly progress update because the sales team offers a verbal reassurance instead.

How DrawMagic fits into this process

Running through eight or nine separate portal checks by hand, for every shortlisted project, is tedious — and tedious tasks get skipped under sales pressure. DrawMagic's evolving Buyer Intelligence workspace is built to help with exactly this: a companion that helps you assemble and organise these public-record checks — registration status, progress history, disclosures — in one place, so you can compare shortlisted projects on facts rather than memory. It is an information companion, not a verification authority; you still confirm details independently and, for anything contractual, involve an advocate. For the broader buyer-readiness picture beyond a single project, the buyer resources hub is a useful starting point, and DrawMagic's approach to responsible, transparent use of data and AI in these tools is explained on the Responsible AI page. If you get stuck navigating a state portal or interpreting a filing, the help centre is there too.

A value note, stated plainly

DrawMagic is a software and information platform. It does not act as your broker, financial or legal advisor, escrow intermediary, or certifier of any project. Nothing in this checklist, or in DrawMagic's tools, substitutes for independent legal review by a qualified advocate before you sign a sale agreement or make a payment. Treat the RERA portal, and any DrawMagic feature that helps you organise it, as a starting point for your own diligence — not the final word.

Key takeaways

• Every RERA-registered under-construction project has a public filing covering registration validity, promoter details, sanctioned plans, timelines, progress, and litigation.
• Verify the registration number independently on the state portal — never rely solely on what's printed in a brochure.
• The declared completion timeline in the RERA filing is the legally binding benchmark for delay claims, not the sales team's verbal promise.
• Litigation disclosures and quarterly progress updates are the most-skipped and most-informative sections of a filing.
• RERA mandates carpet-area based pricing; confirm the agreement matches the filed carpet area, not an inflated super built-up figure.
• Section 4(2)(l)(D) requires 70% of buyer funds to sit in a project-specific account used only for that project's construction and land cost.
• A construction-linked payment plan reduces your exposure compared to a heavily front-loaded schedule.
• Save dated copies of every portal page you check — your own record matters if a dispute arises later.
• Use your state's specific RERA portal (MahaRERA, K-RERA, TG-RERA, UP-RERA, HRERA, and others) by project name, promoter name, or registration number.
• Treat any due-diligence tool, including DrawMagic's Buyer Intelligence workspace, as an organiser for public facts — always confirm independently and consult an advocate before signing.

FAQ

Is a project legally allowed to accept a booking amount if it isn't RERA-registered? Projects above the notified size threshold must be registered before being advertised, marketed, booked, or sold. If a qualifying project is unregistered, accepting a booking amount for it would be outside the RERA framework — confirm registration status before paying anything.

What if the RERA portal shows the completion date has already passed? This does not automatically mean the project has stalled, but it is a serious flag. Ask the promoter directly about any extension filed with the authority and the revised timeline, and treat this as a priority question before booking.

Does the 70% escrow rule guarantee my flat will be delivered on time? No. It reduces the risk of buyer funds being diverted to other projects, but it does not eliminate delays from other causes such as approval bottlenecks, litigation, or execution issues. It is one safeguard among several, not a delivery guarantee.