RERA checklist: 12 things to verify before you book

Everything on this checklist is free, publicly available, and takes under an hour. It is also the step most buyers skip — usually because they are being told inventory is running out. If a salesperson is discouraging you from verifying, that is itself the most useful piece of information you have received all day.

Why this list exists

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 changed the information asymmetry between developers and buyers. Before RERA, you took the brochure on trust. After RERA, sanctioned plans, declared completion dates, promoter details and quarterly construction progress are all matters of public record.

The protection only works if you use it. We publish this because we would rather sell to an informed buyer — informed buyers cancel less, complain less, and refer more.

Using the UP RERA portal

For any project in Noida or Greater Noida, go to up-rera.in and search the registration number. For the projects on this site:

Project	Registration number	Declared completion
M3M The Cullinan, Sector 94	UPRERAPRJ442214	April 2028
M3M The Line, Sector 72	UPRERAPRJ246070	July 2028

A registration number that does not resolve on the portal is a full stop, not a discussion point.

The 12 checks

1. Registration exists and is current. Confirm the number resolves and the registration has not lapsed. Registration can expire and require extension.
2. The registered project matches what you are being sold. Large developments are registered in phases. Confirm your specific tower and phase is covered by the number you were given, not a neighbouring phase.
3. Promoter name matches the paperwork. The entity on the RERA record should be the entity on your application form and receipts. Mismatches are a serious signal.
4. Declared completion date. Note it and compare it against anything you were told verbally. The portal date is the one with legal weight.
5. Sanctioned plans and approved layout. Available on the portal. Confirm the tower count, unit count and layout match the marketing material.
6. Land title and encumbrance. The registration filing includes land documents. Have your own advocate examine title, and check for existing mortgages on the land.
7. Quarterly progress updates. Promoters must file these. Read the last four. Consistent slippage against schedule is documented rather than rumoured.
8. Carpet area is stated. RERA requires the agreement to specify carpet area. If you are being quoted only super built-up, ask for carpet and use it for every comparison.
9. Complaint and order history. RERA authorities publish orders. Search the promoter's name. One dispute across a large portfolio is unremarkable; a pattern is not.
10. Agent registration. Anyone selling registered project inventory must themselves be RERA-registered. Ask for the agent number and verify it.
11. Designated account discipline. RERA requires a percentage of collections to be kept in a separate project account. Confirm your payments go to the developer's designated project account — never to an intermediary or individual.
12. Full cost sheet in writing. Base rate, PLC, floor rise, club, IFMS, parking, GST, stamp duty, registration and any other charge. Get it on the developer's letterhead before you pay.

Clauses to read in the agreement

Read the agreement for sale before you pay a booking amount, not after. Ask for the draft. If you are refused, that is your answer. The clauses that matter:

• Possession date and delay compensation. What date, and what does the developer pay you per month of delay? Compare against what you would pay for a delayed instalment — asymmetry here is common.
• Cancellation and forfeiture. How much do you lose if you withdraw, and on what timeline is the balance refunded?
• Specification substitution. Can materials be changed? To what standard, and with what notice?
• Area variation. What tolerance applies to carpet area at handover, and how is a shortfall or excess settled?
• Payment schedule triggers. Are demands tied to verifiable construction milestones or to dates?
• Common area and parking allocation. Explicitly stated, or left to the developer's discretion later?
• Maintenance handover. When does the residents' association take over, and on what terms?
• Dispute resolution. Does an arbitration clause purport to displace your RERA remedy? It should not.

Warning signs

• Pressure to pay a booking amount before you have seen the RERA registration.
• A request to pay into any account other than the developer's designated project account.
• A verbal possession date earlier than the RERA-declared one.
• Refusal to share the draft agreement.
• Any specific guaranteed return, appreciation figure or rental yield presented as a promise.
• A quoted rate that is only available "today" — inventory scarcity is real, but manufactured deadlines are a technique.
• Reluctance to give you the agent's RERA registration number.

What RERA does not protect you from

Honest limits, because overconfidence in the framework is its own risk:

• Market risk. RERA does not guarantee your property will appreciate. Prices can fall.
• A bad purchase decision. Registration says a project is legal, not that it is good value or right for you.
• Developer insolvency. Protections exist, but a genuinely failed developer is a long and painful process.
• Enforcement time. Orders are obtainable but take time. Prevention beats remedy.
• Quality subjectivity. "Specification as per agreement" leaves room, which is why the substitution clause matters.

Used properly, RERA turns a leap of faith into a documented decision. That is a large improvement, and it costs you an hour. Related reading: our developer diligence guide and the 2026 market note.

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This article is general information published by an authorised M3M channel partner and is not legal, tax or investment advice. Project details, pricing and offers are indicative and must be verified with the developer and on the UP RERA portal at up-rera.in. No returns are assured. See our full disclaimer.