Do real estate developments need to register with RERA if they only start selling and marketing after getting an OC?

By Bricksnwall | 2025-11-02

MahaRERA: Section 3 of RERA says that developers can't advertise, market, book, or sell any real estate project unless they are registered with RERA.

A 30-year-old man named Rahul Sharma (name changed) recently went to see a finished apartment project that he was thinking about buying. He saw that the project did not have a Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) registration number while he was there. When he asked, the developer said that there was no RERA registration because the project was not marketed or sold until after it got the Occupation Certificate (OC).

What does Section 3 of the RERA Act say?

According to Section 3 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA), no developer can advertise, market, book, or sell any property in a real estate project until it has been registered with the appropriate State Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

In addition, any ongoing projects that hadn't gotten a completion certificate when the Act went into effect had to register with the Authority within three months. The RERA Authority (MahaRERA) was set up in Maharashtra in May 2017.

Section 3 also gives the Authority the right to tell a developer to register a project if it thinks that would be in the best interests of homebuyers.

When do you not need to register with RERA?

In the following situations, RERA registration is not required:

Small projects: The land area can't be more than 500 square meters, and the total number of apartments can't be more than eight units, unless the state government lowers this limit.

Completed projects: Projects that got a certificate of completion before RERA started.

Renovation or redevelopment: Projects that involve fixing up, repairing, or redeveloping a building without marketing, advertising, selling, or giving away new units.

You don't need to register with RERA to sell after getting an OC.

Legal experts say that it is still unclear if developers can sell projects without RERA registration after getting an occupation certificate (OC).

 They say that MahaRERA has said in the past that you don't need an RERA registration number to advertise finished projects.

MahaRERA made it clear in April 2025 that developers can market projects without giving an RERA registration number as long as the project is finished and has an OC.

Experts say, though, that this clarity has mostly just been in advertising, and there are still uncertainties about how to sell and market things.

"If all sales start only after the OC has been issued, and if the OC was issued before RERA went into effect, the project does not need to register with RERA." But if the sale of units starts only after getting the Occupation Certificate (OC) and the OC is given out after RERA goes into effect, it is not clear if the project needs to register with RERA. Advocate Sunil M. Kewalramani, owner of Sunil M Kewalramani and Associates, remarked, "Different courts, authorities, and tribunals have given different meanings to this issue."

Kewalramani, who works for Maharashtra RERA, said that developers should have to get RERA registration even if they plan to sell after OC.

Kewalramani said, "If sales start only after OC and the OC is after RERA enforcement, then RERA registration must be required. This is because the developer has to meet a number of obligations after OC, such as transferring the plot and providing a 5-year structural defect warranty."

Things homebuyers should remember are

Legal experts say that anyone who want to buy an apartment in a development that doesn't have RERA registration should do their research and get the project looked at by someone else before they buy it.

Source: Hindustan Times