Summary

India’s Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (hereinafter, RERA Act or the Act) was brought in to promote and better regulate the country’s real estate sector. It aimed at bringing transparency and efficiency in the sale of apartments or plots, protecting the interest of real estate consumers, and establishing an adjudicating mechanism for speedy dispute redressal. The Act was widely hailed for attempting to regulate a large and largely unregulated sector where consumer investments were substantial and grievances were high.

The RERA Act required each state to constitute a Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) for implementing the Act, for RERAs to register real estate projects, promoters, and agents and create a website for more transparent information on their activities, and register, address, and resolve complaints and disputes. An Appellate Tribunal was also mooted in each state, as an option for appealing against RERA judgements.

The Act further defined the powers and functions of the RERAs and the roles and obligations of real estate promoters and agents.

The Act, in its entirety, came into force on 1 May 2017. Five years later, in 2022, this publication takes stock of the experience with RERAs in six states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Locating its reflections in the economic contributions of the real estate sector in the study states and the predominant real estate markets within these states, the publication takes stock of the levels and distribution of RERA’s registration activities, their record in addressing consumer grievances, and their financials and staffing.

The study states were selected based on availability of public data on these parameters. State-level observations and findings are presented in specific chapters.