Open Parking or Garage? How RERA Defines Common Areas for Bengaluru Buyers
The RERA Act lists open parking areas among common areas and defines a garage as a roofed space walled on three sides, with garages for sale disclosed at registration. Here is how Bengaluru buyers can read a parking line on a cost sheet.
The cost sheet for a Bengaluru flat can include a line that surprises first-time buyers: a separate charge for a car park. Sometimes it is labelled covered parking, sometimes stilt parking, sometimes simply "parking slot". Buyers often ask the same two questions. Is the builder allowed to charge for this? And what exactly am I paying for?
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 does not set parking prices, but it draws two definitions that change how a buyer should read that line. It defines "common areas" to include open parking areas, and it defines a "garage" in a way that excludes open parking. This guide reads both definitions as published in the Gazette of India, with the related disclosure rules, so a Bengaluru buyer can ask the right questions before signing.
The short answer. Section 2(n) of the RERA Act defines common areas to include, among other things, the entire land for the project, staircases, lifts and lobbies, and "the common basements, terraces, parks, play areas, open parking areas and common storage spaces". Section 2(y) defines a garage as a place within a project having a roof and walls on three sides for parking any vehicle, and says it does not include an unenclosed or uncovered parking space such as open parking areas. Section 4(2)(i) requires the promoter to disclose the number and areas of garages for sale. The trade-off: these definitions give a buyer a clear test for what is a common area and what is a garage, but they do not decide every parking arrangement on the ground, so the agreement for sale and the sanctioned plan still matter.
What does RERA count as a common area?
The Gazette of India copy of the RERA Act sets out the definition in section 2(n). Common areas mean the entire land for the real estate project, or, where the project is developed in phases and registration is sought for a phase, the entire land for that phase.
The list continues with the staircases, lifts, staircase and lift lobbies, fire escapes, and common entrances and exits of buildings; the common basements, terraces, parks, play areas, open parking areas and common storage spaces; premises for the lodging of persons employed for the management of the property, including accommodation for watch and ward staff; installations of central services such as electricity, gas, water and sanitation, air conditioning and incinerating, and systems for water conservation and renewable energy; water tanks, sumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts and connected apparatus for common use; all community and commercial facilities provided in the project; and all other portions of the project necessary or convenient for its maintenance, safety and common use.
That is a long list, and it matters because of what happens to common areas later. Section 17(1) requires the promoter to execute a registered conveyance deed in favour of the allottee along with the undivided proportionate title in the common areas to the association of allottees or the competent authority. Section 19(3) says the association of allottees shall be entitled to claim possession of the common areas.
How is a garage different from open parking?
Section 2(y) answers this directly. A garage means a place within a project having a roof and walls on three sides for parking any vehicle, but does not include an unenclosed or uncovered parking space such as open parking areas.
Read together with section 2(n), the Act draws a clear line. Open parking areas sit in the list of common areas. A garage, by definition, is enclosed on three sides and roofed. The table below sets out the difference.
| Point | Open parking area | Garage |
|---|---|---|
| Where defined | Listed in common areas, section 2(n)(iii) | Defined in section 2(y) |
| Physical test | Unenclosed or uncovered parking space | Roof and walls on three sides |
| Disclosure at registration | Part of the common areas | Number and areas of garages for sale, section 4(2)(i) |
| Ongoing updates | Not separately listed | Quarterly list of garages booked, section 11(1)(c) |
| Title at conveyance | Undivided proportionate title with the association | As set out in your agreement for sale |
The Act's definitions do not use the industry terms "stilt parking" or "covered parking". So when a cost sheet uses those words, ask how the space measures up against the two definitions: is it roofed and walled on three sides, or is it an open, unenclosed space?
What must the promoter disclose about parking?
Disclosure starts at registration. Section 4(2)(i) requires the promoter's application to include the number and areas of garage for sale in the project. Section 4(2)(h) separately requires the number, type and carpet area of apartments for sale, along with the area of the exclusive balcony or verandah and exclusive open terrace areas, if any.
Once the project is registered, section 11(1)(c) requires the promoter to keep a quarterly up to date list of the number of garages booked on its web page on the Authority's website. Section 11(1)(b) does the same for apartments or plots booked.
For a Bengaluru buyer, this means the number of garages the promoter plans to sell is a disclosed figure, not a sales pitch. If the parking you are being offered is described as a garage, it should fall within that disclosed number. Our guide on carpet area and super built up area in Bengaluru explains the carpet area figures in the same filing.
Can the promoter change the common areas after you book?
Not freely. Section 14(1) says the project shall be developed and completed in accordance with the sanctioned plans, layout plans and specifications approved by the competent authorities. Section 14(2) then limits changes once the plans and the nature of the fixtures, fittings, amenities and common areas have been disclosed to the person who agrees to take an apartment.
Two rules apply. For your own apartment, section 14(2)(i) says the promoter shall not make additions and alterations in the sanctioned plans, layout plans, specifications and the nature of fixtures, fittings and amenities agreed with you without your previous consent. It allows minor additions or alterations you request, or minor changes necessary for architectural and structural reasons, recommended and verified by an authorised architect or engineer after proper declaration and intimation to you.
For the rest of the building and the common areas, section 14(2)(ii) says the promoter shall not make any other alterations or additions in the sanctioned plans, layout plans and specifications of the buildings or the common areas within the project without the previous written consent of at least two-thirds of the allottees, other than the promoter, who have agreed to take apartments in that building. The explanation adds that an allottee is counted as one, however many apartments are booked in that person's or family's name.
So if a promoter proposes to convert a marked open parking area or another common area to some other use, ask whether the two-thirds written consent has been sought.
What happens to common areas at handover?
The Act treats common areas as belonging, in undivided shares, to the allottees collectively. Section 17(1) requires the promoter to execute a registered conveyance deed in favour of the allottee along with the undivided proportionate title in the common areas to the association of allottees or the competent authority, and to hand over physical possession of the common areas to the association.
Section 11(4)(f) repeats the duty to execute a registered conveyance deed along with the undivided proportionate title in the common areas. Section 11(4)(d) makes the promoter responsible for providing and maintaining essential services, on reasonable charges, until the association of allottees takes over maintenance.
In other words, open parking areas, listed as common areas, are meant to pass to the association as part of the common areas. How space is allotted for day to day use among residents is then a matter for the association and the documents. Our explainer on undivided share of land in Bengaluru apartments covers the related question of your share in the land.
What should a Bengaluru buyer check about parking?
Parking disputes can surface after possession, when the association takes over and allotments are tested. A few checks before signing can avoid them. Use this checklist:
- Ask whether the parking offered is a garage or an open parking area.
- Check the space against the section 2(y) test: roof and walls on three sides.
- Compare any garage offered with the number of garages disclosed at registration.
- See the parking location marked on the sanctioned plan, not only the brochure.
- Read how the agreement for sale describes the parking and what you pay for it.
- Confirm open parking areas are treated as common areas in the documents.
- Keep the cost sheet and parking allotment letter with your agreement.
None of these checks tells you what a fair price is. They tell you what you are buying, which is the question a cost sheet line should always answer.
What do Bengaluru buyers ask about parking and common areas under RERA?
Is open parking a common area under RERA?
Yes. Section 2(n) of the RERA Act lists "the common basements, terraces, parks, play areas, open parking areas and common storage spaces" among common areas. Common areas pass to the association of allottees as undivided proportionate title when the promoter executes the conveyance under section 17.
What is a garage under RERA?
Section 2(y) defines a garage as a place within a project having a roof and walls on three sides for parking any vehicle. It expressly does not include an unenclosed or uncovered parking space such as open parking areas. Promoters must disclose the number and areas of garages for sale.
Where can I find how many garages a project is selling?
Section 4(2)(i) requires the promoter's registration application to state the number and areas of garage for sale in the project. Section 11(1)(c) then requires a quarterly up to date list of the number of garages booked on the promoter's web page on the Authority's website.
Who owns the common areas after the project is complete?
Section 17(1) requires the promoter to convey the undivided proportionate title in the common areas to the association of allottees or the competent authority, and to hand over physical possession of the common areas. Section 19(3) says the association is entitled to claim possession of the common areas.
Last updated 2026-10-18. PropNewz Team.
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