Best Quarterly Updates, Annual Audit & Ongoing RERA Compliance Lawyer

For a developer, getting a project registered under RERA is the start of the regulatory relationship, not the end. From the day the registration number is issued, the promoter has continuing obligations: updating the project's public page every quarter, running the separate project account properly and getting it audited, following the rules on advertising, agreements and plan changes, and eventually obtaining certificates, handing over possession and transferring the common areas.

Most penalty proceedings against developers in the NCR aren't about dramatic fraud. They're about missed quarterly updates, late audit reports, advertisements without registration numbers, or agreements that don't follow the prescribed form. These are avoidable. This page sets out the main compliance obligations and how to build them into a developer's routine.

The quarterly update

Section 11(1) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 requires the promoter, on receiving the login credentials for the project's web page on the authority's website, to create the page and enter all details of the project, and to update it at the end of every quarter with:

• the list of the number and types of apartments or plots booked;
• the list of the number of garages booked;
• the list of approvals taken and the approvals still pending after the commencement certificate; and
• the status of the project.

State rules and regulations add detail, typically through a quarterly progress report format covering construction progress for each tower, the status of common facilities, financial information such as amounts collected and spent, and the status of the separate account. Each authority sets its own deadline for filing, usually within a short period after the quarter ends, and some impose late fees.

Why it matters

The quarterly update is the most visible part of a developer's compliance. Buyers, banks and the authority all read it. In disputes, buyers' lawyers routinely download every quarterly update and compare them with what the developer told buyers and what was happening on site. An update that overstates progress, or that hasn't been filed for several quarters, becomes evidence against the developer.

Good practice

• Assign a named person to prepare and file the update every quarter, with a backup.
• Base construction progress on the architect's and engineer's actual certification, not sales projections.
• Reconcile the booking figures with the sales system.
• Upload any new approval as soon as it's received, not just at quarter-end.
• Keep a dated archive of every update filed.

The separate project account and annual audit

Section 4(2)(l)(D) requires 70% of amounts realised from allottees to be deposited in a separate account maintained in a scheduled bank, to cover the cost of construction and land, and to be used only for that purpose. Withdrawals must be in proportion to the percentage of completion of the project, certified by an engineer, an architect and a chartered accountant in practice. And the promoter must get its accounts audited within six months after the end of every financial year by a practising chartered accountant, who must verify that the amounts collected for the project were used for it and that withdrawals were in compliance with the proportion to completion.

Most states require the audited statement of accounts for the project account to be uploaded on the portal in a prescribed format each year. Missing this deadline is one of the commonest compliance failures.

Our page on the 70% account covers the account itself in more detail.

Advertising and marketing

Section 11(2) requires every advertisement or prospectus issued or published by the promoter to mention prominently the website address of the authority where all details of the registered project have been entered, and the registration number obtained from the authority, along with other matters relating to it.

That applies across media: newspaper advertisements, hoardings, brochures, websites, social media, emails and messages sent to prospects, and listings on property portals. It also applies, in practice, to material used by channel partners. Developers are often surprised to be penalised for an agent's Facebook post that didn't carry the registration number.

Section 12 adds a separate liability. If any person makes an advance or deposit on the basis of information contained in a notice, advertisement, prospectus or model apartment, and suffers loss because the information was incorrect or false, the promoter must compensate, and the person may withdraw with a refund and interest. So advertising isn't only a compliance matter. It creates legal obligations.

Good practice: a simple approval process for all marketing material, including channel partner material, with a checklist that covers the registration number, the authority's website, carpet areas rather than only super areas, and claims about amenities, approvals and timelines that match the registered information.

Bookings, allotment and agreements

• Allotment letter. Section 11(3) requires the promoter, at the time of booking and issue of the allotment letter, to make available to the allottee information including sanctioned plans, layout plans and specifications, and the stage-wise schedule of completion of the project, including provisions for civic infrastructure such as water, sanitation and electricity.
• 10% limit. Under Section 13(1), no more than 10% of the cost of the unit can be accepted as an advance or application fee before entering into a registered agreement for sale.
• Prescribed form. Under Section 13(2), the agreement for sale must be in the form prescribed by the state rules. Additions are possible, but terms contrary to the Act, rules or model agreement shouldn't be included.
• Interest parity. Interest on delayed payments by buyers and on delay by the promoter must be at the prescribed rate.

Plans, specifications and changes

Section 14 requires development in accordance with sanctioned plans and specifications. Changes to a buyer's unit need that buyer's previous written consent, except for minor changes justified on architectural or structural grounds and properly intimated. Changes to the building or common areas need the previous written consent of at least two-thirds of allottees, excluding the promoter.

From a compliance perspective, this means that any plan revision after units have been sold needs a consent process, documented, before construction proceeds on the revised plan. Approvals from the planning authority alone aren't enough. See our page on plan changes.

Other continuing obligations

• Insurance under Section 16, once notified by the appropriate government, for title and construction.
• Association of allottees: enabling its formation within three months of a majority of units being booked, under Section 11(4)(e).
• Essential services on reasonable charges until handover of maintenance, under Section 11(4)(d).
• Not mortgaging units or the project after the agreement for sale without the allottees' consent where that would affect their rights, under Section 11(4)(h).
• Completion or occupancy certificate and making it available, under Section 11(4)(b).
• Possession, conveyance and handover, under Sections 17 and 19.
• Defect rectification for five years from possession, under Section 14(3).
• Transfer of the project only with two-thirds consent and the authority's approval, under Section 15.

Penalties for non-compliance

The Act gives authorities a range of penalties for promoters.

• Section 59: failure to register, penalty up to 10% of the estimated cost of the project, with imprisonment or further penalty for continuing violation.
• Section 60: providing false information or contravening Section 4 (the registration application and declaration), penalty up to 5% of the estimated cost of the project.
• Section 61: contravention of any other provision of the Act, rules or regulations, penalty up to 5% of the estimated cost of the project.
• Section 63: failure to comply with the authority's orders, penalty for every day of default, cumulatively up to 5% of the estimated cost.
• Section 64: failure to comply with the appellate tribunal's orders, penalty up to 10% of the estimated cost, or imprisonment up to three years, or both.

Authorities also have power under Section 7 to revoke registration for defaults, and under Section 37 to issue directions. Many authorities have issued suo motu notices to promoters for missed quarterly updates and annual audit reports, and some impose late fees or penalties as a matter of routine.

A compliance calendar

A simple calendar, owned by a named person, prevents most problems. A typical one covers:

• Every quarter: quarterly progress update within the authority's deadline; upload of any new approvals; reconciliation of bookings.
• Every withdrawal from the project account: engineer's, architect's and chartered accountant's certificates for the percentage of completion and the amount withdrawn, filed and archived.
• Every year, within six months of the financial year end: audit of the project account and upload of the audited statement in the prescribed format.
• Every marketing campaign: approval of material against the advertising checklist, including channel partner material.
• Every booking: allotment letter and disclosures under Section 11(3); agreement for sale within the 10% limit; registration of the agreement.
• Before the registration expires: assessment of whether completion is on track, and if not, an extension application under Section 6 in good time.
• When the majority of units is booked: steps to enable formation of the association.
• On completion: occupancy certificate, valid possession offers, conveyance deeds within the required time, handover of common areas and documents.

How we help developers stay compliant

1. Compliance health check: a review of the project's RERA page, filings, project account records, agreements and marketing, with a list of gaps and how to fix them.
2. Templates and checklists for quarterly updates, withdrawal certifications, advertising approvals and agreement drafting.
3. Training for sales, CRM and marketing teams, and for channel partners, on what they can and can't say.
4. Filing support for quarterly and annual filings where needed.
5. Responses to notices from the authority, including suo motu notices for missed filings.
6. Extension and modification applications.
7. Defence of complaints and penalty proceedings where compliance has slipped.

Projects that were ongoing when RERA started

A lot of the compliance trouble in the NCR comes from projects that were already under construction on 1 May 2017, when the main provisions of the Act came into force. Section 3 required those ongoing projects without a completion certificate to be registered within three months. Many were. Some were registered late, some with completion dates that were optimistic even at the time, and some with disclosures copied from old brochures rather than checked against the approvals actually in hand.

For these projects, the compliance problems tend to be specific:

• The declared completion date has already passed and no extension was sought, or an extension was granted and has also passed.
• The project account was opened late, so the money collected before registration was never in it, and the audit reports struggle to show what happened to it.
• Old agreements signed before RERA don't follow the model form, and buyers argue (often successfully, after the Newtech judgment of 2021) that the Act's protections apply to them anyway.
• Phases were registered separately, and buyers in one phase ask why money from their phase seems to have gone into another.

None of these is a reason to give up on compliance. Authorities generally treat a promoter who comes forward, files the missing updates, regularises the account and applies for an extension very differently from one who waits for a notice. The penalty for past lapses is usually far lower when the promoter has already fixed them.

Compliance at completion and handover

The last stage of a project carries its own list, and it's where many otherwise careful developers slip. Possession letters go out, the sales team moves on to the next launch, and nobody is tracking what the Act still requires.

• Occupancy or completion certificate first. An offer of possession made before the occupancy certificate is in hand is, in the view of most authorities, not a valid offer. Buyers who refuse it are usually entitled to keep claiming delay interest until a valid offer is made.
• Final updates on the portal. The project page should show the occupancy certificate, the completion status and, where the state requires it, a completion report or form.
• Conveyance deeds. Section 17 requires the promoter to execute a registered conveyance deed in favour of the allottee, and of the undivided share in common areas to the association, within the time the local law provides or, if it is silent, within three months of the occupancy certificate. Delays in registering conveyance deeds are a frequent cause of complaints in Noida and Greater Noida, often linked to dues the developer owes the development authority.
• Handover to the association. Common areas, maintenance funds and documents (approved plans, structural drawings, equipment warranties and service contracts) must be handed over to the association of allottees. Section 11(4)(g) also makes the promoter responsible for paying outgoings such as ground rent, municipal taxes and loans on the project until physical possession is handed over.
• Defect liability. The five-year period under Section 14(3) starts from the date of handing over possession. A simple system for logging and fixing buyers' complaints during that period saves a great deal of litigation later.

An illustration: a compliance health check

Here's a made-up example that reflects the kind of thing we usually find.

A mid-sized developer has a 400-unit project in Greater Noida West, registered with UP RERA in 2019. Construction is about 70% done. The developer asks for a review because a buyer's lawyer has written to say that the project's quarterly updates "don't match reality".

The review finds:

• quarterly updates were filed regularly until early 2023, then missed for three quarters when the person handling them left the company;
• the construction percentages in the updates came from the sales team's tracker, not from the architect's certificates, and are about 10 percentage points higher than the certified figures;
• the annual audit report for the last financial year was signed but never uploaded;
• two channel partners are running social media advertisements for the project without the registration number;
• the agreements for sale signed in 2022 carry a clause charging buyers 18% interest on late payments, while the developer's liability for delay is at the prescribed rate; and
• the registration expires in eight months, and on current progress the project won't be complete by then.

Each of these can be fixed. The missing quarterly updates are filed with a covering letter. Future percentages are taken only from the certificates, and the next update explains the correction. The audit report is uploaded. The channel partners are told in writing to take down the posts and use the approved material. The interest clause is reviewed against the state's model agreement, and the developer decides how to handle it for existing buyers. And an extension application under Section 6 is prepared now, with the documents the authority will want, rather than in the last fortnight.

In this example, the buyer's lawyer still files a complaint about delay. But the developer's position on the regulatory side is clean, the authority isn't distracted by a list of filing lapses, and the hearing is about the one real issue.

Common notices developers receive

The notices we see most often from the NCR authorities fall into a handful of patterns:

• Non-submission of quarterly progress reports, usually listing the quarters missed and asking why a penalty shouldn't be imposed.
• Non-submission of annual audited accounts for the project account.
• Advertisement without registration number, often triggered by a buyer's screenshot of a hoarding, a portal listing or a social media post.
• Registration expired without extension, sometimes combined with a direction to show progress and a plan for completion.
• Complaints about diversion of funds, which can lead the authority to call for bank statements and certificates and, in serious cases, to order a forensic audit.
• Non-compliance with orders in buyers' complaints, which leads into Section 63 proceedings.

A notice should be answered on time, in writing, with documents. A reply that simply admits the lapse and promises to do better doesn't help much. A reply that shows the lapse has already been fixed, explains why it happened and what has changed to stop it recurring, and attaches the evidence, often leads to a modest penalty or none. Our page on replying to penalty notices goes into this in more detail.

How good compliance helps in buyer disputes

Developers sometimes see compliance and buyer disputes as separate problems, handled by separate teams. They're closely linked.

When a buyer files a complaint for delay or defects, the first thing the buyer's lawyer does is download everything on the project's RERA page. If the quarterly updates are accurate and complete, the audit reports show the money went into the project, and the approvals were uploaded as they came in, the developer can argue with some credibility that the delay was caused by things outside its control, such as a court order, a ban on construction during pollution emergencies, or a pending approval from the development authority. The record supports the explanation.

If the updates are missing or overstated, the audit reports were never filed, and the approvals page is out of date, the same explanation looks like an excuse. Authorities are, understandably, less willing to accept force majeure arguments from a developer whose own filings are unreliable.

Good compliance also makes settlements easier. A developer with a clean regulatory record can offer buyers a realistic revised schedule and be believed. One without that record usually ends up paying more to settle, because buyers have no reason to trust its promises.

Who needs to be involved

RERA compliance isn't something the legal team can do alone. It needs:

• the project team, for construction progress and approvals;
• the architect and engineer, for certificates of completion that support withdrawals and updates;
• the finance team and the chartered accountant, for the project account, withdrawals and the annual audit;
• the sales and CRM teams, for allotment letters, agreements, booking data and buyer communications;
• the marketing team and channel partners, for advertising; and
• a compliance owner who pulls it all together and makes sure filings go in on time.

We work with all of these people. In smaller developers, the same two or three people often wear several of these hats, and a simple shared calendar with reminders does most of the work. In larger groups with several projects across UP, Haryana and Delhi, a central compliance register with project-wise status is worth setting up.

Frequently asked questions

How often must a builder update the RERA project page?

At the end of every quarter under Section 11(1), with details of bookings, garages, approvals and project status, in the format and within the deadline set by the state authority.

When is the annual audit of the project account due?

Within six months after the end of every financial year, by a practising chartered accountant, under Section 4(2)(l)(D). Most states require the audited statement to be uploaded on the portal.

Must every advertisement carry the RERA number?

Yes. Section 11(2) requires advertisements and prospectuses to mention prominently the registration number and the authority's website address.

Are channel partners' advertisements the developer's responsibility?

Agents have their own obligations, but developers are often held responsible for marketing of their projects. Controlling channel partner material is part of good compliance.

What is the penalty for missing quarterly updates?

It's a contravention that can attract a penalty under Section 61, up to 5% of the estimated project cost, and some states charge late fees. In practice, penalties for missed filings are usually much smaller than the maximum, but they add up and damage credibility.

Can a builder change the plans after registration?

Only with the consents required by Section 14, in addition to planning approval, and the registration should be updated.

Can the authority revoke a registration for compliance failures?

Yes. Section 7 allows revocation for defaults under the Act, violations of approval terms, and unfair or fraudulent practices.

Who should be responsible for RERA compliance inside a company?

A named compliance owner, with a backup, supported by the project's architect, engineer and chartered accountant, and reporting to senior management. Diffuse responsibility is the most common reason filings are missed.

General information about promoters' continuing obligations under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. Formats, deadlines and fees are set by state rules and regulations and change from time to time. Not legal advice.