How a RERA Complaint Actually Works

When a project is late, the buyer looks to their agent for what to do next. Most agents can name RERA and stop there. Being able to describe what filing involves, what it can realistically deliver and how long it takes is the sort of knowledge that produces referrals for years.

What RERA can and cannot do

RERA is a state authority. Rules, fees, forms and timelines differ between states, so the first step is always the specific state authority's portal rather than general advice.

The common grievances it handles are possession delay, deviation from the sanctioned plan or promised specification, refusal to refund, and failure to register the project at all.

The two broad outcomes are compensation with interest for delay, or a refund with interest if the buyer chooses to withdraw. The buyer usually has to elect one path.

It does not act as a criminal court and it does not construct the building. An order in your favour is enforceable, but enforcement can be its own process.

How a complaint is filed

Most states allow online filing. The buyer needs their allotment letter or builder-buyer agreement, payment receipts, the project's RERA registration number and a statement of what went wrong and when.

A lawyer is not compulsory. Many buyers file themselves, which matters because the fee structure is designed to be accessible rather than prohibitive.

Keep the complaint factual and dated. Dates of payment, dates promised in the agreement, and the specific clause breached carry the case; frustration does not.

An agent should never file on a buyer's behalf or advise on the merits. Point them to the portal, help them assemble the documents, and suggest they take advice before electing refund over compensation.

What to tell a buyer honestly

Timelines are measured in months, not weeks, and appeals extend that. A buyer expecting a resolution before their lease expires needs to hear that early.

Check whether the project is registered before you ever market it. Selling an unregistered project exposes the agent, and several states require agents themselves to be RERA-registered.

Keep your own file: what you told the buyer, when, and what the builder told you. Agents get named in complaints, and contemporaneous notes are what separate a witness from a respondent.