Project & Payment
What is a Pre-Launch Project?
The steepest discount in Indian real estate, offered for a project that legally cannot be sold to you yet. Understand what that sentence means.
The short answer
A pre-launch is an offer to sell you a flat in a project that does not yet have RERA registration. Since RERA came into force in May 2017, marketing, advertising or accepting money for an unregistered project is prohibited.
The discount is real — often 10–20% below launch price. So is the risk. A builder who is breaking the law before you have signed anything is telling you something important about how they operate.
What a pre-launch is
A developer has land, and a plan, and perhaps some approvals. What they don't have is RERA registration. So they cannot legally sell.
Instead they offer a small circle of buyers — often through brokers, often informally — the chance to "book" a unit at a steep discount, ahead of the official launch. Money changes hands. Sometimes there is an allotment letter. Often there is not.
The legal position
Section 3 of the RERA Act: a promoter shall not advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale any unit in a project that requires registration, without registering it first.
Not 'should not'. Shall not. A pre-launch offer on a registrable project is a breach of the Act, made before you have signed a single document.
Projects that need registration: land over 500 square metres, or more than eight units across all phases. Almost every apartment project you will ever look at.
What you're actually risking
1. The project may never get registered
Approvals can be refused. Land titles turn out to be disputed. Environmental clearance fails. The project you paid for simply never comes into existence — and it never had legal permission to be sold to you in the first place.
2. Your money is outside the escrow protection
RERA's single most important protection — the 70% escrow account — applies to registered projects. Money paid before registration is not in an escrow account. It is in the builder's general funds, and it can be spent on anything.
3. Your recourse is weak
RERA's remedies — interest on delay, refund with interest, complaint to the authority — are built around a registered project and a registered agreement. When the project isn't registered, you are relying on a civil suit and a receipt.
4. There is often no proper agreement
A pre-launch booking frequently rests on an allotment letter, an email, or a receipt. Not a registered agreement for sale. The document that would protect you does not exist yet.
5. The price may not be honoured
If the project is a success and prices rise, some buyers have found their pre-launch "booking" quietly renegotiated upward — and discovered they had little to enforce.
Why builders do it
Cash. Approvals cost money and take time; a developer wants funds before the meter starts running. Pre-launch money is the cheapest capital available to them — no interest, no bank covenants, no escrow restrictions on how it is spent.
That last point deserves a moment. The reason your money is attractive at the pre-launch stage is precisely because it is not yet protected.
If you're still considering it
Some buyers do this with their eyes open, with a builder they know well, and it works out. If that's you, at least do the following:
- Ask directly: is this project RERA registered? Get the answer in writing. The evasion itself is informative.
- Pay by cheque or bank transfer only. Never cash. You want an unarguable trail.
- Get a written receipt that names the project, the unit, the price and the terms of refund.
- Limit your exposure. Whatever you pay before registration, assume you could lose it.
- Check the builder's RERA history — by promoter name — before anything else.
The pre-launch discount is compensation for risk. That is a legitimate trade in principle.
But the risk you are being compensated for here is not construction risk — it is the risk of dealing with a builder who is breaking the law to get your money early, and who has arranged things so that your money is not protected while they hold it.
You can get most of the discount, most of the choice, and all of the legal protection by waiting a few months for the new launch. We think that is the better trade.
Frequently asked questions
Is pre-launch booking legal in India?
Generally, no. Section 3 of the RERA Act prohibits a promoter from advertising, marketing, booking, selling or offering for sale any unit in a registrable project without registering it first. Almost every apartment project is registrable — land over 500 sq m, or more than eight units.
Is my money safe in a pre-launch?
It is not protected by RERA's escrow rule, which is the single most important safeguard in the Act. The 70% escrow requirement applies to registered projects. Money paid before registration sits in the builder's general funds and can be spent on anything.
How much cheaper is a pre-launch?
Typically 10% to 20% below the eventual launch price. That discount is compensation for risk — but the risk you're being compensated for is dealing with a builder who is breaking the law to get your money early, at a stage when it isn't protected.
What if a pre-launch project never gets RERA registration?
Then the flat you paid for may never legally exist. Approvals can be refused, titles can be disputed, clearances can fail. Your recourse would be a civil suit rather than a RERA complaint, because RERA's remedies are built around registered projects and registered agreements.
Should I ever buy in a pre-launch?
Our view is no. You can get most of the discount, most of the unit choice, and all of the legal protection by waiting a few months for the RERA-registered new launch. If you do proceed anyway: pay only by traceable transfer, get a written receipt naming the unit and refund terms, and assume you could lose whatever you pay before registration.