TS RERA: A Buyer's Guide to Apartments and Villas in Telangana

Every new apartment and gated villa brochure in Hyderabad now carries a line of small print that starts with "TS RERA" or "TG RERA" and a long registration number. Most buyers glance at it and move on. They shouldn't. TS RERA, the Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority, is the single most useful protection you have when you buy an under-construction home, but only if you know what the registration number unlocks, what the law actually guarantees, and how to use it when a builder slips. This guide explains which projects must register, how to check a registration in ten minutes, what RERA does and does not promise, how carpet area and payment caps work, what to do if possession is delayed, and how the complaint process runs, with worked Hyderabad numbers throughout.

We are property advisors, not lawyers. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 and the Telangana rules framed under it are stable, but interest rates, fees and procedures are updated from time to time. Treat figures here as the position as of October 2026 and verify them on the official portal before relying on them.

Who this guide is for

This guide is for anyone booking an under-construction flat, villa or plot in a layout in Telangana, especially first-time buyers in the western IT corridor, families comparing gated villa projects, and NRIs buying from abroad who will see the site perhaps twice before possession. If you are buying a ready flat with an occupancy certificate in hand, RERA still matters for defect liability and common areas, and our companion guide to the OC, UDS and car parking checks covers the rest.

What TS RERA is and why it matters

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, usually called RERA, is a central law that each state implements through its own rules and regulatory authority. Telangana notified its rules in 2017 and set up the Telangana State Real Estate Regulatory Authority. After the state changed its official abbreviation from TS to TG in 2024, you will see both "TS RERA" and "TG RERA" on documents; they refer to the same authority and the same registration system, run through the Telangana RERA portal.

Before RERA, a Hyderabad buyer's protection was a builder's agreement drafted by the builder, a consumer court case that could take years, and the builder's reputation. RERA changed four things that matter in daily practice:

• Disclosure. A registered project must upload its approvals, sanctioned plans, title documents, encumbrances, litigation, unit inventory and quarterly progress. You can read them before you pay.
• Money discipline. Seventy per cent of the amounts collected from buyers must go into a separate bank account and be used only for construction and land cost of that project, with withdrawals certified by an engineer, an architect and a chartered accountant.
• Fixed promises. The possession date declared at registration, the carpet area, the specifications and the plans become commitments that cannot be quietly changed.
• A specialist forum. Complaints go to the authority and its adjudicating officer, with appeal to a tribunal, rather than starting in a general court.

Which projects must register with TS RERA, and which are exempt

Projects that must register

A real estate project must be registered before it is advertised, marketed, booked or sold if the land proposed to be developed exceeds 500 square metres or the number of apartments exceeds eight, counting all phases. That covers almost every apartment complex and gated villa community you will see in Hyderabad, and it also covers plotted developments, meaning open-plot layouts, above the threshold. Real estate agents who market registered projects must register too.

Projects that were ongoing when the rules came into force and had not received a completion or occupancy certificate also had to register. Each phase of a phased project is treated as a separate project with its own registration and possession date.

Projects that are exempt

• Small projects below both thresholds: up to 500 sq m of land and up to eight units.
• Projects that had received a completion certificate before the rules commenced.
• Renovation, repair or redevelopment that does not involve marketing, advertising, selling or new allotment of units.

A G+4 building of eight flats on a 400 sq yd plot in Kondapur may legitimately be outside RERA. That does not make it unsafe, but it means you lose RERA's disclosure and complaint machinery, so the title and approval checks fall entirely on you and your lawyer.

Pre-launch and UDS sales

Hyderabad has seen waves of "pre-launch offers" and "UDS schemes", where a developer sells an undivided share of land at a discount before plans are approved or the project is registered. Selling, booking or even advertising a project that requires registration, before it is registered, is a violation of RERA, and the authority has issued notices and penalties against such sales. If you are asked to pay for a project that has no RERA number yet, you are taking builder risk with none of the protections in this guide.

What RERA guarantees, and what it does not

What the law gives you

• Price on carpet area. The sale price must be stated on carpet area: the net usable floor area of the flat, excluding external walls, service shafts, exclusive balconies and exclusive open terraces, but including internal partition walls. Builders may still mention super built-up area, but the carpet area must be disclosed and the agreement must use it.
• A cap on advances. A promoter cannot take more than 10% of the cost of the unit as an advance or application fee before executing a registered agreement for sale.
• No unilateral changes. Changes to sanctioned plans and specifications of your unit need your consent; changes affecting the common areas or structure need the consent of at least two-thirds of the allottees.
• Interest or refund for delay. If possession is not given by the date in the agreement, you may withdraw and claim a refund with interest and compensation, or stay in the project and receive interest for every month of delay. Under the Telangana rules, the interest rate is linked to the State Bank of India's highest marginal cost of lending rate plus 2%.
• Five-year defect liability. Structural defects and defects in workmanship, quality or services reported within five years of possession must be rectified by the promoter, generally within 30 days, failing which compensation is payable.
• Association and conveyance. The promoter must enable formation of the owners' association and execute the conveyance deed, and hand over common areas and documents, within the timelines set by the Act.

What RERA does not do

• It does not guarantee the project will be completed on time; it gives you remedies when it is not.
• It does not certify the builder's title. The authority publishes what the promoter uploads; your lawyer still has to read it.
• It does not regulate price or appreciation, or guarantee construction quality beyond defect liability.
• It does not make enforcement instant. Orders take months, and recovery from a builder in financial trouble can take longer.

How to check a TS RERA registration number

This takes ten minutes and saves more grief than any other step. On the Telangana RERA portal, search the registered projects by registration number, project name or promoter. Then check:

1. The project name and promoter match exactly what is on your booking form, including the legal entity that will sign the agreement.
2. The phase or tower is covered. A registration for Phase 1 does not cover Phase 2. Check the unit count and building list.
3. The validity date. This is the proposed completion date declared by the promoter. Compare it with the possession date in your draft agreement; if the agreement gives the builder more time, ask why.
4. Extensions. If the registration has been extended, note how many times and why. Repeated extensions are an early warning.
5. Approvals and plans. Download the building permission from GHMC, HMDA or the local authority and the sanctioned plans, and check that the number of floors and units match the brochure.
6. Title and encumbrance disclosures. Note any mortgage to a lender, and whether the land is under a development agreement with landowners.
7. Quarterly progress updates. Are they filed regularly? Do the reported percentages match what you see on site?
8. Litigation and complaints. Check disclosed cases and search the authority's orders for the project name.

Step by step: buying an under-construction home under RERA

A typical Hyderabad purchase runs through these stages. Costs are indicative as of October 2026; verify current rates.

Stage	What happens	Typical timing	Money and charges
1. Shortlist and verify	RERA check, approvals, title review by your advocate, site visit	1 to 3 weeks	Legal review ₹15,000 – ₹40,000
2. Booking	Unit blocked; booking form signed	Day 0	Booking amount, within the 10% cap
3. Agreement for sale	Registered agreement in the RERA-prescribed form, with carpet area, schedule, possession date	Usually 30 to 60 days after booking	Stamp duty and registration on the agreement as applicable; verify at the SRO
4. Home loan	Bank sanction against approved project; tripartite agreement	2 to 6 weeks	Processing fee, typically up to 0.5% to 1%
5. Construction-linked payments	Demands raised as slabs and milestones are completed	Over 24 to 48 months	GST 5% on non-affordable homes (1% on affordable); 1% TDS on payments if the total exceeds ₹50 lakh
6. Completion and OC	Builder obtains occupancy certificate; final demand raised	At or after the promised date	Balance price, maintenance advance, corpus
7. Sale deed and possession	Sale deed registered at the jurisdictional SRO; keys and documents handed over	Within weeks of OC	About 7.5% of market value in stamp duty, transfer duty and fee, less any credit allowed; verify
8. Defect liability period	Report defects in writing	Five years from possession	Rectification at builder's cost

Our guide to stamp duty and registration charges in Telangana explains how registration value is computed, and our villa buying guide covers the gated villa variation of this sequence.

Carpet area in practice: reading a Hyderabad price sheet

Most Hyderabad price sheets still lead with super built-up area, which adds a share of corridors, lifts, staircases, the clubhouse and other common areas to your flat. The difference between super built-up and carpet area is the "loading", and in the city's gated high-rises it commonly runs at 25% to 35%.

Take a 3 BHK advertised at 1,850 sq ft super built-up at ₹9,000 per sq ft, ₹1.665 Cr before charges. If the loading is 30%, the carpet area is roughly 1,850 ÷ 1.30 ≈ 1,420 sq ft, and your real price is about ₹11,700 per carpet sq ft. Two projects quoting the same super built-up rate can differ by ₹1,000 or more per carpet sq ft. Always compare projects on carpet area, which the RERA agreement must state.

For indicative rates by micro-market, see our guides to apartments in Gachibowli, apartments in Kokapet and apartments in Tellapur.

Worked example: a delayed 3 BHK in the Tellapur belt

A client bought a 3 BHK in a large gated high-rise in the Tellapur and Kollur belt in early 2023. The registered agreement gave possession by 31 December 2025. The flat cost ₹1.6 Cr including car parking, and by the promised date the client had paid ₹1.28 Cr under the construction-linked plan, partly through a home loan. In October 2026 the builder was quoting June 2027 for possession.

The two RERA options

1. Stay and claim interest. Interest runs on the amounts paid, from the promised possession date until actual possession. If the applicable rate (SBI's highest MCLR plus 2%) works out to about 11% a year, verify the current figure, interest on ₹1.28 Cr is roughly ₹14 lakh a year. For 18 months of delay, that is in the region of ₹21 lakh, usually adjusted against the final demand or paid on possession.
2. Withdraw and claim refund. The client could exit and claim the ₹1.28 Cr back with interest from the date of each payment, plus compensation decided by the adjudicating officer. This is attractive if the project is in genuine difficulty, less so if it is merely late in a rising market.

What we recommended

The quarterly updates showed the towers structurally complete and finishing under way, the escrow withdrawals were certified, and there was no lender action against the project. We advised staying in, writing to the builder formally invoking the agreement's delay clause and the statutory interest, and negotiating an adjustment of accrued interest against the final instalment. The builder agreed to a credit close to the statutory figure. Had progress stalled, we would have recommended filing a complaint early, because complaints filed before a builder's finances deteriorate are easier to recover on.

The complaint process at TS RERA

If negotiation fails, the process runs as follows:

• Complaint to the authority. Filed online in the prescribed form for violations of the Act, rules or the agreement: delay, refund, unilateral plan changes, failure to form the association or execute the conveyance deed. A nominal fee applies; check the current amount on the portal.
• Application to the adjudicating officer. Claims for compensation are decided by the adjudicating officer, filed in a separate prescribed form.
• Hearings and orders. Both sides are heard, documents examined, and an order passed. Timelines vary; plan for months, not weeks.
• Enforcement. Orders can be recovered as arrears of land revenue, and non-compliance attracts penalties.
• Appeal. Either side may appeal to the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal within 60 days, and from there to the High Court. A promoter appealing must generally deposit a substantial part of the amount ordered.

The Supreme Court has held that buyers may also approach consumer commissions, so RERA is not the only forum. Which to choose depends on the remedy you want; take legal advice.

Gated villa projects and plotted layouts under RERA

Gated villa communities above the threshold are registered exactly like apartments, with possession dates, carpet or built-up area disclosures and escrow rules. Plotted layouts above 500 sq m must also be registered; a layout permit from HMDA or DTCP and a RERA number are separate approvals, and you need both. Villa buyers in belts such as Tellapur, Kollur and Mokila should check that the clubhouse, internal roads and common amenities are shown in the registered plans, because amenities that exist only in the brochure are hard to enforce. Our guide to villas in Tellapur covers local pricing.

When a project stalls: what RERA can and cannot do

Delay is common; abandonment is rarer but it happens, usually after a builder overextends across several projects or a dispute with landowners under a development agreement freezes work. The warning signs are consistent: quarterly updates stop or show no movement, the workforce on site shrinks, the builder pushes a "special offer" to raise cash, and demands are raised for milestones that are not visibly complete.

What the law provides

• Revocation of registration. The authority can revoke a registration for serious violations, and on revocation it can decide how the remaining development is carried out, including by the owners' association or another agency, so that the project is not simply abandoned.
• The designated account. Because 70% of collections must sit in a project account with certified withdrawals, there should be money tied to the project rather than spent on the builder's next launch. In practice, how much protection this gives depends on how well it was policed.
• Insolvency. If the builder company enters insolvency proceedings, homebuyers are treated as financial creditors and participate in the resolution process as a class. That gives a voice, not a guarantee.

What buyers should do

Act collectively and early. A group of allottees filing together carries more weight, shares legal costs and can propose practical solutions, such as completing the project through a new developer with the authority's oversight. Keep every payment receipt, demand letter and email. If you have a home loan, tell your bank in writing about the delay; under a tripartite agreement, some lenders stop disbursing to the builder, which protects you from paying for work that has not been done. Do not stop paying your EMIs, which damages your own credit without hurting the builder.

The best protection is still the first one: choosing a promoter whose earlier projects in Hyderabad were delivered with OCs and functioning associations, and whose current registration shows steady quarterly progress.

Mistakes we see in practice, and the fix

1. Paying a large advance before the agreement. Some buyers pay 20% to lock a "festival price". Fix: stay within the 10% cap until the registered agreement for sale is signed.
2. Checking the project but not the phase. The RERA number on the brochure belongs to Phase 1. Fix: confirm your tower is in the registration you are relying on.
3. Accepting a longer possession date in the agreement. The agreement says 48 months plus a six-month grace period while RERA shows a shorter date. Fix: align the agreement with the registration, or at least understand why it differs before signing.
4. Comparing on super built-up area. Fix: convert every quote to price per carpet sq ft.
5. Ignoring quarterly updates. Fix: read them every quarter after booking; delays show up there first.
6. Waiting too long to complain. Buyers hope the builder will recover. Fix: once delay is clear and progress has stalled, send a formal notice and file before the builder's position worsens.
7. Buying a pre-launch or UDS deal. Fix: no RERA number, no payment.
8. Not reporting defects in writing. Fix: log every defect by email during the five-year period.

RERA for NRI buyers

RERA's protections apply equally to NRIs, and the disclosure on the portal is especially valuable when you cannot visit the site often. You can execute the agreement for sale and sale deed through a properly drafted power of attorney, pay from NRE or NRO accounts or through an NRI home loan, and file a RERA complaint online through your attorney. Our guide for NRIs buying villas and apartments in Hyderabad covers funding, POA and repatriation; take a CA's advice on TDS and capital gains.

How NRR Estates uses TS RERA for clients

• Before booking: we pull the registration, approvals, plans, title disclosures, extensions and complaint history, and give you a written summary.
• At agreement: our advocate reviews the agreement for sale against the RERA-prescribed form, the registration and the brochure, flagging possession dates, penalty clauses and carpet area.
• During construction: we track quarterly updates and site progress for clients who want it, particularly NRIs.
• At possession: we check the OC, conduct a snag inspection, and support registration of the sale deed and handover documents.
• If things go wrong: we help you document the delay or defect and connect you with an advocate experienced in RERA matters.

Our fees are disclosed before we start, and we only recommend projects whose registrations we have read in full.

Frequently asked questions about TS RERA

How do I check if a project is registered with TS RERA?

Search the project on the Telangana RERA portal by registration number, project name or promoter. Confirm the promoter entity and project name match your booking form, that your phase or tower is covered, and note the validity date, which is the declared completion date. Download the building permission, sanctioned plans and title disclosures, check for extensions, read the quarterly progress updates and search for complaints and orders. If the number on the brochure does not appear, do not pay.

Which projects are exempt from TS RERA?

Projects where the land does not exceed 500 square metres and the number of units does not exceed eight, counting all phases, are outside the registration requirement. Projects that received a completion certificate before the rules commenced, and renovation or repair work that does not involve selling new units, are also exempt. A small exempt building is not necessarily unsafe, but you lose RERA's disclosure and complaint mechanisms, so your own lawyer's title and approval checks become more important.

Is TS RERA the same as TG RERA?

Yes. Telangana changed its official abbreviation from TS to TG in 2024, so you will see both TS RERA and TG RERA on brochures, agreements and certificates. They refer to the same Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority, the same rules and the same online portal. Older registrations may carry the earlier styling. What matters is that the registration number appears on the official portal against the correct project, phase and promoter.

What is carpet area under RERA?

Carpet area is the net usable floor area of a flat, excluding the area covered by external walls, service shafts, exclusive balconies and exclusive open terraces, but including internal partition walls. RERA requires the sale price to be stated on carpet area. Hyderabad builders often still quote super built-up area, which adds a share of common areas; the difference is commonly 25% to 35%. Convert every quote into price per carpet square foot before comparing projects.

What can I claim if my flat's possession is delayed?

Under RERA, if the promoter fails to give possession by the date in your agreement, you can either stay in the project and receive interest for every month of delay until possession, or withdraw and claim a refund of all amounts paid with interest, plus compensation. In Telangana, the interest rate is linked to the State Bank of India's highest marginal cost of lending rate plus 2%. Start with a formal notice to the builder, then file a complaint if needed.

How long does a TS RERA complaint take?

There is no fixed answer. Complaints are filed online, the builder is given notice, hearings are held and an order is passed, which typically takes several months and can take longer in contested cases or where compensation is claimed before the adjudicating officer. Either side can appeal to the appellate tribunal within 60 days. Recovery from a builder in financial trouble can take further time, which is why filing early and collectively is usually better than waiting.

Can a builder take more than 10% before the agreement for sale?

No. RERA prohibits a promoter from accepting more than 10% of the cost of the apartment, plot or building as an advance or application fee before entering into a written agreement for sale and registering it. Some builders offer price discounts for larger upfront payments before the agreement. That exposes you to risk and breaches the law. Keep within 10% until the registered agreement, in the prescribed form, is signed and registered.

Does RERA apply to NRI buyers?

Yes. RERA protects every allottee regardless of residence. NRIs can rely on the portal's disclosures, execute agreements and sale deeds through a properly drafted power of attorney, and file complaints online through their attorney. Funding must follow FEMA rules, typically through NRE or NRO accounts or an NRI home loan. RERA does not deal with tax: TDS on payments above ₹50 lakh and later capital gains on sale need advice from a chartered accountant.