Authorities & RERA
How to File a RERA Complaint
The builder is nine months late and has stopped answering. Here is what you actually do — and it does not begin with hiring a lawyer.
The short answer
You can file a RERA complaint yourself, online, for a small fee. You do not need a lawyer.
The Authority can order the builder to pay you interest for every month of delay, to refund your money with interest, to complete the project, or to pay compensation.
And it can recover the money as arrears of land revenue — which means the district collector, not a civil court.
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 is a central law. But it is administered by a separate authority in each state, each with its own portal, its own rules, its own forms, and its own fee schedule.
Which means: the principles below apply everywhere. The procedure does not.
Always check YOUR state's RERA portal for the current rules, forms and fees. Search for it by name — MahaRERA, K-RERA, TS-RERA, TNRERA, UP RERA, HARERA — rather than following a link a builder or a broker sends you.
When you can file a RERA complaint
| What happened | The provision |
|---|---|
| Possession is late | You are entitled to interest for every month of delay — or a full refund with interest, if you'd rather withdraw. Section 18. |
| The carpet area delivered is less than the agreement | Refund of the excess paid, with interest. |
| The project was never registered | A contravention of Section 3. Penalty up to 10% of project cost. |
| The builder made false statements in the prospectus or advertising | Compensation. Section 12. |
| The sanctioned plan was changed without consent | RERA requires the consent of two-thirds of allottees for alterations. Section 14. |
| Promised amenities were not delivered | The clubhouse that evaporated. A contravention of the agreement and the declarations. |
| Structural defects found within 5 years of possession | The promoter must rectify them free of charge, within 30 days. Section 14(3). |
| The builder took more than 10% before a registered agreement | A contravention of Section 13. |
| The agent is unregistered | A contravention of Section 9. |
Before you file — do these four things
- Write to the builder, formally. Registered post or email with a delivery record. State the problem, cite the agreement, ask for a remedy, give a deadline. Keep everything.
- Gather your documents: the agreement for sale, the allotment letter, every payment receipt, the RERA registration number, the declared possession date, and all your correspondence.
- Check the RERA portal for the project's declared possession date and its quarterly progress filings. A project that stopped filing is a project that stopped building — and that record is evidence.
- Talk to other allottees. A group complaint from thirty buyers carries far more weight than one from you, costs each of you less, and is far harder to ignore. This is the single most effective thing you can do.
You are almost certainly not the only person this builder is late with.
An allottees' association, or even a WhatsApp group of thirty buyers filing together, changes everything: the cost per person, the evidence available, the seriousness with which the Authority treats it, and the builder's appetite to settle.
Builders settle with groups. They stonewall individuals. That is not cynicism; it is simply how the economics work.
How to file — step by step
- Go to your state's RERA portal. Search for it by name. Every state has one.
- Register as a complainant and find the online complaint form.
- Fill it in. Your details, the promoter's details, the project's RERA number, the facts, and exactly what relief you want.
- Be specific about the relief. "Interest under Section 18 for the delay from [date] to [date]" is a request the Authority can grant. "Justice" is not.
- Attach the documents — agreement, receipts, correspondence.
- Pay the fee. It is small — typically ₹1,000 to ₹5,000, depending on the state.
- Submit. You get a complaint number.
- Attend the hearings. Usually you can appear yourself, and often by video. A lawyer is not required.
The Authority grants what you ask for, within what the law allows. So ask precisely.
Under Section 18, you choose ONE of two things:
(a) Stay in the project, and receive interest for every month of delay, at the prescribed rate, until possession; or
(b) Withdraw entirely, and receive a full refund with interest.
This is your choice, not the builder's. Think about which you actually want — because a project four years late with no construction happening is a very different proposition from one that is six months behind and clearly finishing.
What the Authority can actually order
- Interest for delay — for every month, at the prescribed rate
- Full refund with interest, if you choose to withdraw
- Compensation — assessed by an Adjudicating Officer (Section 71)
- Directions to complete the project
- Penalties on the promoter
- Recovery as arrears of land revenue — see below
Section 40: if a promoter does not pay what the Authority has ordered, the amount is recoverable as an arrear of land revenue.
Which means the District Collector — not a civil court. The Collector can attach and sell property to recover it.
That is a materially faster and harder mechanism than a decree from a civil court, and it is the reason RERA orders are worth having rather than merely satisfying.
If you lose — or if the builder appeals
- Appeal to the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal, within 60 days.
- Crucially: a promoter appealing against an order to pay must first deposit at least 30% of the penalty — or, in an allottee's case, the total amount payable — before the Tribunal will hear them.
- From the Tribunal, an appeal lies to the High Court, within 60 days.
- Civil courts are barred (Section 79) from entertaining matters RERA is empowered to decide.
The honest reality
The Act endeavours to have complaints disposed of within 60 days. In practice, many take considerably longer — and enforcement of an order can take longer still.
What RERA genuinely gives you: a forum that is cheap, that you can use without a lawyer, that has real powers, and whose orders are recoverable as land revenue. Before 2017, an aggrieved buyer had a civil suit and a decade.
What it does not give you: your flat, next month.
So: file early. File as a group. And keep every letter you ever wrote to the builder — that correspondence file is the evidence the whole thing rests on.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a lawyer to file a RERA complaint?
No. You can file yourself, online, on your state's RERA portal, for a fee of typically Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000. You can usually appear at hearings yourself, often by video. That is deliberate — the Act was designed to be accessible to ordinary buyers.
What can I claim if my possession is delayed?
Under Section 18 you choose ONE of two things, and the choice is yours, not the builder's. Either stay in the project and receive interest for every month of delay at the prescribed rate until possession; or withdraw entirely and receive a full refund with interest.
How long does a RERA complaint take?
The Act endeavours to have complaints disposed of within 60 days. In practice many take considerably longer, and enforcing an order can take longer still. RERA is a real remedy — cheap, lawyer-free, with orders recoverable as arrears of land revenue — but it is not a fast one.
Is a group RERA complaint better than an individual one?
Substantially. A group complaint from thirty buyers costs each of you less, carries far more evidence, is taken more seriously, and is much harder to ignore. Builders settle with groups and stonewall individuals — that is not cynicism, it is simply how the economics work. Find the other buyers before you file.
What happens if the builder doesn't pay the RERA order?
Under Section 40, the amount is recoverable as an arrear of land revenue — which means the District Collector, not a civil court. The Collector can attach and sell property to recover it. That is materially faster and harder than a civil decree, and it is why RERA orders are worth having rather than merely satisfying.