Booking in a New Phase? Why RERA Treats Each Phase as a Separate Project: Bengaluru Checks
The Explanation to Section 3 of the RERA Act makes every phase of a project a stand alone real estate project with its own registration. This guide covers the phase's completion date, common areas, quarterly updates and seven checks before booking.
A Bengaluru developer has delivered the first towers of a large township and now announces "Phase 3". The brochure carries the same name, the same clubhouse photographs and the same sales office. A buyer could easily assume that the new flats sit under the same registration, the same completion date and the same promises as the towers already standing. Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, the Act does not support that assumption, and the difference matters before you book.
This guide explains how the Act treats a new phase, what the phase's own registration should show, and the checks a buyer should make before paying for a flat in a newly launched phase.
The short answer. The Explanation to Section 3 says that where a real estate project is developed in phases, every phase shall be considered a stand alone real estate project, and the promoter shall obtain registration for each phase separately. So a new phase needs its own registration before it can be advertised, marketed, booked or sold, and the promoter must declare its own completion period under Section 4(2)(l)(C). Section 2(n)(i) also defines the common areas of a phase registered separately as the entire land for that phase. The trade-off: a new phase can benefit from a developer's track record on earlier phases, but its legal promises are only those made in its own registration and agreement for sale.
Why does a new phase need its own registration?
Because the Act treats it as a separate project. In the text of the Act published by the Telangana regulator, the Explanation to Section 3 says that for the purpose of that section, where the real estate project is to be developed in phases, every such phase shall be considered a stand alone real estate project, and the promoter shall obtain registration under the Act for each phase separately.
Section 3(1) then says no promoter shall advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale, or invite persons to purchase, any plot, apartment or building in a real estate project in a planning area without first registering it with the Authority. Read together, the registration number of Phase 1 does not authorise bookings in Phase 3. Our explainer on what the Act says about unregistered projects sets out the penalties under Section 59.
What should the phase's registration tell me?
Its own timetable and its own disclosures. Section 4(2)(l)(C) requires the promoter's declaration, supported by an affidavit, to state the time period within which it undertakes to complete the project or phase, as the case may be. So the completion date for Phase 3 is the one declared for Phase 3, not the date that applied to an earlier tower.
Section 4(2)(b) requires the application to include brief details of projects launched by the promoter in the past five years, whether completed or being developed, including their current status, any delay in completion, details of cases pending, details of type of land and payments pending. For a buyer, that is a useful place to see how the developer's earlier phases actually performed against their own dates.
| Question | What the Act says | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Is each phase a separate project? | Yes, every phase is a stand alone real estate project needing its own registration | Explanation to Section 3 |
| Can a new phase be sold before registration? | No advertising, marketing, booking or sale in a planning area without registration | Section 3(1) |
| Whose completion date applies? | The period the promoter declares for that project or phase | Section 4(2)(l)(C) |
| What are the common areas of a phase? | For a phase registered separately, the entire land for that phase, among other items | Section 2(n)(i) |
| What must the promoter disclose about past work? | Projects launched in the past five years, with status, delays and pending cases | Section 4(2)(b) |
What are the common areas of a phase?
Those defined for that phase. Section 2(n)(i) says 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 definition then lists items such as staircases, lifts, lobbies, common basements, terraces, parks, play areas, open parking areas and installations of central services.
That definition is worth reading alongside the brochure. If a clubhouse, park or other amenity is shown as shared across the township, ask which phase's registration and sanctioned plans it belongs to, and what the agreement for sale for your phase says about your access to it. Section 11(3)(a) makes the promoter responsible, at the time of booking and issue of the allotment letter, for making available the sanctioned plans, layout plans and specifications approved by the competent authority.
How do I check the money and progress of my phase?
Through the phase's own web page and account. Section 11(1) requires the promoter to create a web page on the Authority's website for the registered project and keep quarterly up-to-date lists of the number and types of apartments or plots booked, the approvals taken and pending, and the status of the project. Because each phase is a stand alone registered project, those quarterly updates should be read for the phase you are buying into.
Section 4(2)(l)(D) requires seventy per cent of the amounts realised for the real estate project from allottees to be deposited in a separate account in a scheduled bank, used only for construction and land cost, and withdrawn in proportion to the percentage of completion as certified by an engineer, an architect and a chartered accountant in practice. Section 11(2) requires advertisements and prospectuses to mention prominently the Authority's website address and the registration number, which gives you the reference to look up.
Our earlier report on phase-wise registration under RERA covers the same Explanation in general terms. This guide focuses on the buyer's checks at launch.
What should a Bengaluru buyer check before booking in a new phase?
Use this list at the sales office. Each step follows from the sections above.
- Ask for the registration number of the specific phase you are being offered, and check it on the regulator's website.
- Confirm that the phase name, tower numbers and promoter on the registration match the brochure and allotment letter.
- Note the completion period declared for that phase, not the date of earlier phases.
- Read the promoter's disclosure of projects launched in the past five years, including any delays and pending cases.
- Ask which phase each shared amenity belongs to, and what your agreement for sale says about access to it.
- Check that advertisements show the phase's registration number and the Authority's website address.
- Read the phase's quarterly updates on bookings, approvals and construction status before each major payment.
If you are considering a later phase of an established project, such as Adarsh Palm Acres Phase 3 in Bagalur, run the same checks against that phase's own registration rather than the earlier phases.
What if a new phase is being sold before registration?
Do not pay, and keep the evidence. Section 3(1) bars advertising, marketing, booking or selling in an unregistered project in a planning area, and the Explanation makes each phase a separate project for that purpose. Under Section 59(1), a promoter that contravenes Section 3 is liable to a penalty of up to ten per cent of the estimated cost of the project, and Section 59(2) provides for imprisonment of up to three years, a fine of up to a further ten per cent, or both, for continued violation or non-compliance with orders.
Section 31 allows any aggrieved person to file a complaint with the Authority or the adjudicating officer for any violation of the Act. Keep the brochure, messages and any receipt, and note the date you were offered the booking.
Does an existing phase owner have any say in the new phase?
Only through what the Act and the agreement already give them. Section 14(2) bars the promoter, after the sanctioned plans, layout plans and specifications have been disclosed to a buyer, from making additions and alterations to them for that buyer's apartment, plot or building without the buyer's previous consent, subject to the minor changes the section permits. An existing owner who believes a new phase changes what was disclosed for their own phase should start with the sanctioned plans that were furnished to them.
A new phase is a new project in law, even when it shares a name and a sales office with the old one. Buying it on its own registration, rather than on the reputation of the towers next door, is how the Act expects a buyer to proceed.
Frequently asked questions
Does a new phase of a project need separate RERA registration?
Yes. The Explanation to Section 3 of the RERA Act says that where a project is developed in phases, every phase shall be considered a stand alone real estate project, and the promoter shall obtain registration for each phase separately, so an earlier phase's number does not cover a new one.
Which completion date applies to a new phase?
Section 4(2)(l)(C) requires the promoter's declaration, supported by an affidavit, to state the time period within which it undertakes to complete the project or phase. So a buyer in a new phase should rely on the period declared for that phase, not the dates of earlier phases.
What are the common areas of a phase under RERA?
Section 2(n)(i) says common areas mean the entire land for the project or, where a project is developed in phases and registration is sought for a phase, the entire land for that phase, along with items such as lifts, staircases, parks and installations of central services.
How can I check a developer's record on earlier phases?
Section 4(2)(b) requires a promoter's registration application to give brief details of projects launched in the past five years, completed or ongoing, including current status, any delay in completion, cases pending, type of land and payments pending. Buyers can read these disclosures before booking.
Last updated 2026-10-25. PropNewz Team.
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