TGRERA's 2025 penalty wave: what Hyderabad buyers can learn from the orders

Twenty-two Hyderabad builders were fined a cumulative 5.64 crore rupees through 2025 by the Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority. The numbers come from coverage by ASBL and Telangana Today, which tracked the wave of penalty orders that TGRERA issued against developers for non-registration, unregistered agreements, false information, and non-registration of sale deeds. According to Telangana Today's coverage, several of the orders named specific builders and specific projects, with penalty amounts ranging from 15 lakh to over 50 lakh rupees per case. For Hyderabad buyers, the orders are not just enforcement noise. They are a public record of what regulatory failures look like in real projects, and a useful guide to what to check before booking.

What did TGRERA actually do through 2025?

TGRERA imposed penalty orders against multiple Hyderabad-based realtors and developers through 2025 for violations of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. The orders covered non-registration of projects, sale and marketing without RERA registration, non-execution of registered agreements with allottees, and submission of false information. Cumulatively, ASBL coverage indicated that 22 builders faced fines totalling around 5.64 crore rupees during this enforcement wave.

The orders were issued under the authority of TGRERA Chairman N. Satyanarayana, and the procedural framework drew on Section 38(1) and Section 62 of the RERA Act, 2016, which provide for penalty imposition and recovery. The penalty schedule for non-registration under Section 9 of the Act provides for fines of 10,000 rupees per day of default, cumulatively up to 5 percent of project cost. For agents, similar penalty structures apply.

The orders were widely reported in Telugu and English regional press, including Telangana Today, and have become part of the public record on the TGRERA portal at rera.telangana.gov.in.

What was the Edifice Projects order about?

TGRERA imposed a penalty of 15.29 lakh rupees on Edifice Projects on July 26, 2025, for non-registration of the La Bouquet Edifice project in Madinaguda. The chairman ordered that the penalty be paid within 30 days of the order. The case originated when complainants approached TGRERA stating that they had executed a development agreement with the builder for construction of villas, but the project had not been registered under RERA as required.

The Edifice Projects order is a useful reference case because the penalty amount, 15.29 lakh rupees, is meaningful for a small-scale project but not crippling. The order also required the builder to rectify defects in five villas and comply with RERA regulations within 30 days, which combined the financial penalty with operational corrective action. This combination is more common in TGRERA orders than pure financial penalties.

For buyers, the case shows what happens when a builder accepts development work or starts marketing units before completing RERA registration. The eventual cost is high, both in penalty amount and in reputational damage.

What about the Jayathri Infrastructures and Krithika Infra Developers orders?

TGRERA imposed a penalty of 18.35 lakh rupees on Jayathri Infrastructures on September 29, 2025, for marketing flats of the Sky Exotica project in Kukatpally without registering the commercial project as required by the RERA Act. The complaint was filed by Sumit Kumar Soni and Ranjana Bansal of Gachibowli. The same Telangana Today coverage reported a separate penalty of 54.26 lakh rupees against Krithika Infra Developers in LB Nagar.

These orders illustrate the same pattern. A builder either failed to register a project, marketed units without registration, or did not execute registered agreements with buyers. The complaint trigger came from individual buyers, the authority investigated, and the order followed under Section 38 of the RERA Act.

The penalty amounts vary with the scale of the project and the duration of non-compliance. For projects with multiple buyers, the cumulative penalty exposure can climb quickly because the per-day default penalty under Section 9 compounds.

What violations does TGRERA most commonly penalise?

The most commonly penalised violations under TGRERA orders include non-registration of projects, marketing of units without RERA registration, non-registration of sale deeds with the buyer, false or misleading information in registration applications, and non-disclosure of plan modifications. The pattern across the 22 builders fined in 2025 covers these categories.

For agents, the most common violations are operating without registration under Section 9 and 10 of the RERA Act and failing to disclose project information accurately to buyers. Penalties for unregistered agents start at 10,000 rupees per day of default and can extend up to 5 percent of the value of the units they helped sell.

For buyers, the relevant filter is whether the project has been registered, whether the registration certificate matches the marketing materials, and whether the builder has been the subject of any prior orders on the TGRERA portal. Each of those checks would have caught most of the cases that ended up in the 2025 penalty wave.

How can buyers verify a Hyderabad project on TGRERA?

Buyers can verify a Hyderabad project on TGRERA through the official portal at rera.telangana.gov.in. The portal allows search by project name, developer name, district, or RERA registration number. Each registered project has a public page showing the registration certificate, the approved layout plan, the project timeline, the financial disclosures, and any orders or directions issued against the promoter.

The portal also lists names of registered real estate agents associated with each project. Buyers should cross-check the agent's registration status before signing any booking-related document. An unregistered agent who facilitates a sale exposes both themselves and potentially the buyer's interests to additional risk.

For our broader take on the due diligence stack that should accompany any booking, the earlier piece on how to check a builder's reputation outlines the standard checks. The TGRERA portal is the regulator-side companion to those checks for Hyderabad specifically.

What does an unregistered project actually risk for a buyer?

An unregistered project carries multiple risks for a buyer. The buyer has weaker legal protection under the RERA Act because the project itself is not formally under the regulator's oversight. Plan changes, fund diversion, and timeline slips are harder to challenge. The project's marketing materials may not accurately reflect approved plans because there is no regulator-side check.

If a complaint is filed against the project, the regulator's first action is often to penalise the builder for non-registration, which addresses the procedural violation but does not automatically remedy the buyer's situation. The buyer may need to pursue parallel civil remedies for refund, possession, or specific performance, while the registration violation is processed separately.

For buyers who have already paid advance amounts to a project that turns out to be unregistered, the recovery path is harder than for buyers in registered projects. The eventual outcome depends on whether the builder has the financial capacity to refund or complete the project, and on whether the buyer files complaints quickly enough to be among the first in queue if recoveries are limited.

What other RERA-related risks are common in Hyderabad?

Other RERA-related risks common in Hyderabad include developers obtaining RERA registration but then deviating from the approved plan, failing to update quarterly progress reports, not maintaining the 70 percent escrow account that the Act requires, and selling units based on super built-up area instead of carpet area. Each of these is a violation that the regulator can act on if a buyer flags it.

The 70 percent escrow requirement is particularly important. Under the RERA framework, builders must deposit 70 percent of the amounts collected from buyers in a separate escrow account that can be used only for construction expenses for that specific project. Diversion of these funds to other projects is a significant violation. Buyers can ask for escrow account details during due diligence.

The carpet area versus super built-up area issue affects most apartment buyers in Hyderabad. RERA mandates that sales be conducted on the basis of carpet area only, excluding common spaces like corridors and lobbies. Buyers should verify that the agreement reflects carpet area and that the per square foot price is calculated on that basis.

How are penalty orders enforced if the builder does not pay?

If a builder does not pay a TGRERA penalty within the order's stipulated period, the authority can initiate recovery proceedings under Section 40 of the RERA Act, which allows recovery of the amount as arrears of land revenue. The authority can also suspend or cancel the project's RERA registration, preventing further sales until the penalty is paid and the underlying violation is remedied.

For severe and repeated violations, Section 59 of the RERA Act provides for prosecution, including imprisonment of up to three years for continued violations of registration provisions. Few cases progress to imprisonment in practice, but the underlying threat shapes builder behaviour once the first penalty order is issued.

For buyers in projects where the builder has been penalised but has not yet paid, the practical reality is mixed. The penalty order strengthens any parallel civil claim the buyer may have, but enforcement of the buyer's specific entitlements still depends on the builder's financial capacity and the broader project status.

What should Hyderabad buyers learn from the 2025 enforcement wave?

Hyderabad buyers should learn three things from the 2025 enforcement wave. First, the TGRERA portal is now a meaningful source of public-record signals about builder conduct, and projects with prior orders are higher-risk than projects with clean records. Second, the most common violations are still the basic ones, including non-registration and non-disclosure, which means basic due diligence catches most of the risk. Third, the regulator's willingness to issue orders against named builders has increased, which raises the cost of non-compliance for everyone.

For buyers entering the Hyderabad market in 2026, the combination of these three factors suggests that the cost of doing portal-level due diligence has come down while the value of doing it has gone up. A 30-minute lookup on the TGRERA portal before booking now produces signals that would have been hidden a few years ago.

For our broader perspective on RERA's design and what it does for buyer protection across India, the earlier piece on RERA benefits for home buyers in India remains useful background.

What is likely to happen in 2026?

TGRERA's enforcement direction in 2026 is likely to continue along the same lines, with more named orders, stronger penalty amounts, and expanded use of the portal as a public-record signal. The Maharashtra experience with structured conciliation is being watched in Telangana, and similar mechanisms could be introduced if the volume of buyer complaints continues to grow.

For Hyderabad's broader real estate market, the enforcement wave is likely to encourage compliance among the larger registered developers while squeezing the smaller players whose business models relied on regulatory ambiguity. The visible effect for buyers should be a gradual cleanup of the marketing layer, with fewer projects launched without registration and fewer agents operating outside the system.

If you have noticed a Hyderabad project that has been penalised by TGRERA or has a history of complaints, write to us. We are tracking the post-order trajectories of the 22 builders fined in 2025 and want to understand which projects are recovering and which are not. Let's chat.