Not on the RERA Website? When a Small Bengaluru Project Is Exempt From Registration

Picture a four storey building going up on a 40 by 60 site in a quiet Bengaluru layout. The owner plans eight flats, two on each floor, and is selling them directly. A buyer looks for the project on the RERA website and finds nothing. Is that a warning sign, or is the project simply too small to need registration? The answer sits in two numbers in the RERA Act.

The short answer. Under Section 3(2)(a) of the RERA Act, as set out in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs' FAQs, a project does not need to be registered where the land proposed to be developed does not exceed 500 square metres or the number of apartments proposed does not exceed eight, inclusive of all phases. Projects that received a completion certificate before the Act commenced, and renovation or redevelopment that involves no marketing, advertising, selling or new allotment, are also exempt. The trade-off: a small exempt project can be a legitimate purchase, but it will not come with the registration disclosures, quarterly updates and separate project account that the Act attaches to registered projects, so more of the checking falls on you.

When does a Bengaluru project not need RERA registration?

When it falls within one of the Act's exemptions. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs' FAQs on the RERA Act, dated July 2025, list three under Section 3(2). First, where the area of land proposed to be developed does not exceed five hundred square metres or the number of apartments proposed to be developed does not exceed eight, inclusive of all phases. Second, where the promoter received a completion certificate for the project before the Act commenced. Third, renovation, repair or redevelopment that does not involve marketing, advertising, selling or new allotment of any apartment, plot or building.

The first exemption is the one that matters for small builder floors and compact apartment blocks. The words "inclusive of all phases" are important. The limits count all phases together, so dividing a larger development into small phases does not change the count.

For everything else, the rule is registration first. The FAQs say Section 3(1) requires the promoter to register the project with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority before any advertising, marketing, booking, selling, offering for sale or inviting persons to purchase.

How should you read the 500 square metre and eight apartment limits?

As two separate tests, joined by "or". The FAQs describe the exemption as applying where the land does not exceed 500 square metres or the number of apartments does not exceed eight, inclusive of all phases. Read the exact text with your lawyer if a project sits close to either line, because the way the two tests interact decides whether registration was required.

In practical terms, ask the seller three things: the area of the land being developed, the total number of apartments in the sanctioned plan, and whether any further phase or additional floor is planned on the same land. Compare the answers with the sanctioned building plan rather than a sales brochure.

If the numbers put the project outside the exemption and it is not registered, that is a serious problem for the promoter. The FAQs say that under Section 59, a promoter who fails to register a project when obliged to is liable to a penalty of up to ten percent of the estimated cost of the project, with a further fine of up to ten percent or imprisonment of up to three years, or both, for continued default.

What do you give up when a project is exempt?

Mainly the disclosure system that registration creates. The FAQs say Section 4 sets out the details and undertakings a promoter must give when applying for registration, and Sections 4 and 11 provide a detailed list of disclosures on the Authority's website for public viewing. Section 11 also requires certain information to be updated quarterly, the FAQs say, so that buyers can make an informed choice.

Registration also brings the separate project account. Under Section 4(2)(l)(D), the FAQs say, the promoter of a registered project must maintain a separate bank account for every project, into which seventy percent of the money received from allottees is deposited for construction and land cost, with withdrawals in proportion to the percentage of completion, certified by an engineer, an architect and a chartered accountant.

A small exempt project will not carry those features. That does not make it a bad purchase. It means the information a RERA listing would have given you has to come from documents you obtain directly.

How does an exempt project compare with a registered one?

The table below sets out five differences that follow from what the MoHUA FAQs say about registration:

The right hand column is a set of practical substitutes, not legal equivalents. Where the Act's disclosures are absent, the sale agreement and the sanctioned plan carry more weight. We explained how registration and deemed registration work for larger projects in our guide to RERA registration timelines in Bengaluru.

What about projects outside the planning area?

The Act starts from the planning area. The FAQs say Section 3(1) requires all projects within a planning area, as defined in Section 2(zh), to be registered. The second proviso to Section 3(1) allows the Authority, with the requisite permission of the local authority, to order or direct a promoter to register a project beyond the planning area in the interest of allottees.

So a project on the edge of the city is not automatically outside RERA. If you are buying in a peripheral location, ask whether the land falls within a planning area and whether the project has been registered or directed to register. For plots rather than flats, our guide to RERA registration of plotted layouts covers the equivalent questions.

Registered or not, the same core checks apply to the title, the approvals and the agreement. Whether you are comparing a small building with a large registered project such as Adarsh Welkin Park on Hosa Road, the difference is how much of the information you have to gather yourself.

What should the sale agreement cover when there is no RERA listing?

More than it would in a registered project. For registered projects, the MoHUA FAQs say Section 13(2) requires the appropriate government to specify through rules the agreement for sale between promoter and allottee, that the agreement is binding on the parties, and that its terms cannot be contrary to the Act and the rules. That prescribed structure is a useful model even where a project is exempt, because it reflects what the law expects a buyer to be told.

In a small building, make sure the agreement records, at a minimum, the flat number and its carpet area, the floor plan, the specifications, the payment schedule tied to construction stages, the date by which the flat will be ready, and what happens if that date is missed. Add how the common areas, the terrace and the parking will be shared, and who will hold the building's documents once the sale is complete.

Also record how the seller will hand over the approvals that a RERA listing would otherwise have published, including the sanctioned plan. When there is no public record to fall back on, the agreement and the papers attached to it become the record. A clear agreement is the cheapest protection a buyer of a small project can have.

What should you check before buying in a small unregistered project?

Work through this list with your lawyer:

1. Confirm the land area being developed and the total number of apartments from the sanctioned building plan.
2. Ask whether any further phase, floor or block is planned on the same land, since the limits count all phases.
3. If the project is above either limit, ask for its RERA registration number before paying anything.
4. Obtain the title documents and the approvals that a RERA listing would otherwise have shown.
5. Set payment stages in the sale agreement that track visible construction progress.
6. Put the promised completion date and specifications in writing in the agreement.
7. Ask how the common areas, water and power connections will be handed over to owners.

None of this assumes bad faith. A small project may simply be below the Act's thresholds. The checklist makes up for the information gap that comes with being small.

Frequently asked questions

Does every apartment project in Bengaluru need RERA registration?

No. MoHUA's FAQs say Section 3(2) exempts projects where the land proposed to be developed does not exceed 500 square metres or the apartments do not exceed eight, inclusive of all phases, as well as projects with a completion certificate before the Act and certain renovation or redevelopment.

Can a builder split a project into phases to avoid RERA?

The exemption's limits apply inclusive of all phases, according to MoHUA's FAQs on Section 3(2). Count every planned phase, floor and block on the same land when you check whether a project falls within the 500 square metre or eight apartment limits, and ask for the full sanctioned plan.

What is the penalty if a project should have registered and did not?

MoHUA's FAQs say Section 59 makes a promoter who fails to register when obliged to liable to a penalty of up to ten percent of the estimated project cost. Continued default can attract a further fine of up to ten percent, imprisonment of up to three years, or both.

Does RERA apply outside the planning area?

Registration under Section 3(1) applies to projects within a planning area. The second proviso lets the Authority, with the local authority's permission, direct a promoter to register a project beyond the planning area in the interest of allottees, according to MoHUA's FAQs on the RERA Act.

Last updated 2026-10-20. PropNewz Team.