RERA Registered vs RERA Approved: What Each Claim Confirms

RERA registered is the official status, and "RERA approved" is a marketing phrase with no legal meaning. Registration records a project in the state register and does not rate its quality.
 

• Status: the Act has no approved status, and registered is the only one
• Registration: the authority decides within 30 days of the application
• Protection: 70% of buyer payments go into a separate project account
• Defects: the promoter fixes structural defects for 5 years
• Other approvals: plan, commencement certificate, occupancy certificate and lender approval

• Check: match the registration number and validity date on the state portal

  
  

Quote the registration number from the portal, not from the brochure, in your booking papers. Bajaj Finance verifies a project's registration status before it disburses a home loan against the project.

No. The Act creates one status, which is registration, and it creates no status called approved. A project that says RERA approved is using a marketing phrase, and a project that says RERA registered is using the legal term.

Section 3 of the Act requires a promoter to register a qualifying project before advertising or selling it. The state authority then enters the project in its register and issues a registration number. The guide to Section 3 of the RERA Act explains which projects must register.

No. One developer page in the research claims that approved ranks above registered, and the claim is wrong. The Act has no ranking, so a project is RERA registered or it is not.

In most advertisements, the phrase means that the project holds a registration number. Treat it as a claim to verify and not as an extra level of safety. A well-known builder's brochure needs the same check as any other.

Registration confirms that the promoter filed the project's details with the state authority and that the authority entered the project in its register. It does not confirm the quality of the building, and it does not guarantee the delivery date.

The authority decides within 30 days of the application, under Section 5. If it does not communicate a decision in that time, the project is treated as registered. Three buyer protections follow from registration:

• Separate account: 70% of the amounts realised from buyers go into a separate bank account for construction and land cost (Section 4(2)(l)(D)).
• Defect liability: the promoter fixes structural defects found within 5 years of possession (Section 14(3)).
• Validity: registration runs to the declared completion date, and the authority can extend it by up to 1 year in total (Section 6).

Four other approvals matter, and each one comes from a different body. RERA registration does not replace any of them.
 

The guide to commencement and occupancy certificates explains the two certificates.

Search the state RERA portal and match 5 fields against the brochure and the booking form. Portals differ by state, so the field names can vary.
 

A mismatch in any field is a reason to pause the payment. Ask the developer in writing and check with the state authority.

Tarun Bansal, 38, lives in Gurugram and earns Rs. 2.2 lakh a month, with a CIBIL Score of 781. He compares 2 projects, each pricing a flat at Rs. 1.2 crore. The booking amount is 20% of the price, which is Rs. 24 lakh.
 

Formula used: Amount in the separate account = 70% × amount paid by the buyer.

Project B holds Rs. 16.8 lakh of Tarun's Rs. 24 lakh in its separate account, and the promoter keeps the other Rs. 7.2 lakh outside that account. Tarun books Project B after he sees the sanctioned plan.

Yes. Bajaj Finance verifies a project's registration status before it disburses a home loan against the project, whatever the brochure says. Keep the registration certificate, with its number and validity date, in your loan file.
 

Approval timelines can extend where the registration has expired, the promoter's name differs from the seller's, or the plan approval is missing, and minimum income thresholds can differ by city. Check your home loan eligibility before you pay a booking amount.