MahaRERA: Verify a Mumbai Project Before You Book a Flat

A young family booking an under-construction two-bedroom flat in Mulund signed the booking form on the strength of a glossy brochure, a show flat, and a salesperson's easy assurance that the RERA number was "applied for and coming soon." They paid a booking amount that ran well past a token sum. Months later the launch had slipped, the promised registration was still not on the portal, and their money was tied up in a project they could not verify. Everything about the sales floor felt legitimate, yet the one check that would have protected them took two minutes and they never made it. In Mumbai, the MahaRERA registration is that check.

The short answer. Almost every under-construction project in Mumbai must be registered with MahaRERA before it can be advertised, marketed or sold, and you can verify any project's registration number free on the official portal in a couple of minutes. Look up the number, confirm the status is active rather than lapsed or withdrawn, and read the disclosures the builder filed. The trade-off to understand is that registration is a transparency and accountability framework, not a stamp of quality or a guarantee of on-time delivery; it gives you disclosures and a complaints forum, but you still have to read what it shows.

Does every Mumbai project need MahaRERA registration?

Almost every sizeable one does. Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, a project has to be registered with the state authority, MahaRERA in Maharashtra, where the land involved is more than 500 square meters or the project has more than eight units, counting all phases together. Once that threshold is crossed, the law bars the promoter from advertising, marketing, booking, selling or even inviting purchase for the project until the registration is granted. A builder telling you the number is "coming" while collecting real money is describing something the Act does not permit.

This is why the registration number, not the brochure, is the document that matters at the booking stage. The brochure is marketing; the MahaRERA page is a filed, accountable disclosure that the promoter is answerable for. If a project genuinely falls below the threshold, ask for that in writing, but for the towers most Mumbai buyers are considering, an absent registration is not a formality that can wait.

How do you verify the registration number before booking?

You verify it on the official MahaRERA portal, maharera.maharashtra.gov.in, using the registered projects search. Ask the developer or agent for the project's registration number, then search for it yourself rather than trusting a number printed on a hoarding. Mumbai project registrations typically begin with the format P51900 followed by a unique number, and you can also search by project name, developer name or district if you do not yet have the number in hand.

Searching yourself matters because it takes you to the authoritative record instead of a screenshot. Confirm that the project and the developer names on the portal match the ones on your booking documents exactly, and that the address and tower details line up with what you were shown. A number that resolves to a different project, or to nothing at all, is a reason to stop and ask questions before any money moves. Keep the registration number with your file once you have confirmed it, because you will use it again to track the project's quarterly updates through construction and to identify the exact registered entity if you ever need to raise a complaint. A number you have personally verified on the portal is far more useful to you later than one you merely saw on a banner.

What should the MahaRERA project page tell you?

The project page carries the disclosures the promoter is legally bound to keep current, and reading them is the point of the exercise. Check the registration status and its validity date, the declared completion date, the filed project details and financials, the dedicated bank account for the project, and the quarterly progress updates that show whether construction is keeping pace with the promises.

Read the completion date on the portal against what the salesperson told you, because the filed date is the one the builder is accountable for. Read the quarterly updates as a track record: a promoter who files them on time and shows real progress is behaving as the Act intends, while long silences in the updates section are a warning that the project may not be moving as advertised. The dedicated project bank account matters more than it looks, because the Act requires roughly seventy percent of the money collected from buyers to be kept in a project-specific account and used for that project's construction, which is what stops one project's funds from quietly financing another. Seeing that account reflected in the filings is part of what you are checking for.

What does RERA stop a builder from doing?

RERA sets hard limits that protect your money, and knowing them changes what you will agree to. The Act bars a promoter from accepting more than a capped share of the cost, ten percent of the flat's price, as an advance or application fee before entering into a registered agreement for sale with you. In practice that means a builder should not be collecting a large booking amount and then postponing the written, registered agreement; the agreement is meant to come first, and the bulk of the money follows it.

The Act also requires the promoter to keep the project registered and its disclosures current, and it gives buyers a forum to complain if promises are broken. None of this makes a project immune to delay, but it converts vague sales talk into filed commitments you can point to later. If a builder resists putting the registration number, the agreement for sale and the payment schedule in writing, that resistance is itself the information you need.

What are the red flags on a MahaRERA listing?

The clearest red flag is a status that reads lapsed or withdrawn rather than active, because it means the registration that is supposed to cover your purchase is no longer in force. Treat a completion date that has already passed with no fresh update, blank or missing financial disclosures, and a long gap in quarterly progress filings as related warnings that the project is not being kept current on the portal. Any one of them justifies slowing down and asking the developer to explain in writing.

A second, quieter red flag is a mismatch between the sales pitch and the filed record, a different completion date, a different tower count, or a project name that does not quite match. The portal is the accountable version; where the pitch and the portal disagree, believe the portal. Pair this with a check of the developer's other registered projects to see whether delays are a pattern rather than a one-off. Where the portal surfaces complaints or orders associated with the promoter, it is worth reading a few, since a history of buyer disputes tells you how the developer tends to behave when a project runs into trouble.

What should you do before you book a Mumbai flat?

Run these steps before you sign a booking form or transfer more than a nominal sum.

1. Ask the developer or agent for the project's MahaRERA registration number in writing.
2. Search that number yourself on maharera.maharashtra.gov.in and open the project page.
3. Confirm the status is active, not lapsed or withdrawn, and note the validity date.
4. Match the project and developer names and address against your booking documents.
5. Read the declared completion date and the quarterly progress updates for the track record.
6. Insist on a registered agreement for sale before paying beyond the capped advance.
7. Check the developer's other registered projects for a pattern of delays or complaints.

These checks cost nothing but a little time, and they move you from trusting a sales floor to relying on a filed record. Once the project side is clear, line up the money side too, including the stamp duty and registration charges you will pay, and if you are buying resale rather than new, the separate conveyance and deemed conveyance check that applies to older societies.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if a Mumbai project is registered with MahaRERA?

Ask the developer for the project's MahaRERA registration number and search it yourself on the official portal, maharera.maharashtra.gov.in, using the registered projects search. Mumbai numbers usually begin with P51900. You can also search by project name, developer or district. Confirm the names and address match your booking documents before paying anything.

Can a builder take booking money before MahaRERA registration?

No. Under the Real Estate Act, a promoter cannot advertise, market, book or sell a project that crosses the registration threshold until MahaRERA has registered it. A number that is only "applied for" does not permit collecting real booking money. If a builder is taking substantial payments without a registration you can verify, treat that as a serious warning.

How much advance can a builder collect before the agreement?

The Real Estate Act caps the advance at ten percent of the flat's cost before a registered agreement for sale is signed. In practice the agreement should come first, with the larger payments following it. If you are asked for a big booking amount while the registered agreement is postponed, push back and get the sequence corrected before you pay.

Does MahaRERA registration guarantee the flat will be delivered on time?

No. Registration is a transparency and accountability framework, not a guarantee of quality or timely delivery. It gives you filed disclosures, a declared completion date the builder is answerable for, and a complaints forum, but projects can still slip. Read the quarterly updates and the developer's track record to judge delivery risk rather than assuming registration removes it.

Last updated 2026-09-02. PropNewz Team.