After You File a K-RERA Complaint: The Path from Hearing to Recovery
Filing is the easy part of a RERA dispute. Much of the effort comes afterwards, when the case moves through hearings, an order, a possible appeal and then the hard task of collecting money from a builder. This guide takes a Bangalore buyer through those stages in sequence.
Who Hears Which Claim?
RERA splits a buyer's claims between two forums, a division the Supreme Court drew in its Newtech Promoters ruling of November 2021. The Authority itself handles refunds, interest on them, possession and interest on late possession. A separate adjudicating officer handles compensation, which the Act covers in sections 12, 14, 18 and 19.
That officer is a sitting or retired District Judge, as section 71 requires. Under section 72 the officer looks at four things when fixing an amount:
- How much the promoter gained unfairly, where that can be measured
- What the default cost the buyer
- Whether the promoter has done this repeatedly
- Anything else the officer thinks justice requires
Delay interest and compensation for a particular loss, rent being the usual example, are separate claims. Each needs separate evidence.
What Happens Before the First Hearing
The registry first scrutinises the complaint and then sends the promoter a notice with a copy. A written reply comes in, the buyer may respond with a rejoinder, and a bench lists the case. Documents and brief oral arguments settle most matters, with no witnesses called.
For summoning people, demanding papers and taking affidavit evidence, the Authority has the same powers as a civil court. Section 36 also lets it restrain a promoter by interim order while the case is pending. Plenty of complaints are first sent to conciliation, and a settlement reached there ends the matter.
How Long Should It Take?
The statute aims for disposal in 60 days from receipt, both for the Authority (section 29) and for the adjudicating officer (section 71). A longer case must carry written reasons. In practice, a contested Karnataka complaint commonly lasts many months.
Buyers can keep things moving by appearing on every date and replying on time. A one-page working helps the bench: payments made, the possession date promised and the interest sought.
Directions an Order May Contain
The order mirrors the prayer and the proof. Typical directions include the following:
- Refund plus interest, where the buyer is exiting
- Interest for each month of delay, where the buyer is staying
- A date for completion, handover or the sale deed
- Repair of defects reported within five years, due a month after notice
- A penalty against the promoter, paid to the Authority
- Compensation, if the adjudicating officer has decided that claim
Karnataka's rules set interest at SBI's highest MCLR with 2 percentage points added. A compliance window is given in the order, commonly 60 days. Check from which date interest is to be counted, because every recovery figure depends on it.
Challenging the Order
A party who disagrees goes to the state's Appellate Tribunal, and the clock is 60 days from the date the order is received. Promoters face a precondition under section 43(5): they must deposit 30% of any penalty, or everything payable to the buyer including interest and compensation. The Supreme Court endorsed this rule in Newtech, so an appeal lacking the deposit is not taken up.
The next step is the High Court under section 58, again 60 days, and strictly on a point of law. Winners should find out whether an appeal is pending and whether the deposit is on record. A failed appeal may allow the deposit to be released to the buyer.
If the Builder Does Not Comply
Ignoring an order attracts penalties of its own. Under section 63, a promoter who disobeys the Authority risks a daily penalty, capped at five per cent of the estimated cost of the project. Section 64 deals with Tribunal orders and allows up to ten per cent, or imprisonment for as long as three years, or both.
Section 40 is the buyer's route: it lets unpaid interest, penalties and compensation be collected like land revenue dues. The procedure is in rule 25 of the state's rules, framed in 2017.
Turning the Order into Cash
The buyer must start this stage; it does not begin on its own. Karnataka practice runs as follows:
- Allow the compliance period to finish and check that no higher forum has stayed the order.
- Lodge an execution application at K-RERA with the order and an updated statement of dues.
- K-RERA forwards a recovery certificate to the Deputy Commissioner for a district where the promoter owns property.
- The Tahsildar's office raises a demand and, failing payment, can attach and auction assets.
- Amounts collected are handed to the buyer.
Delays pile up here. District recovery has trailed far behind the number of certificates sent out. In a writ petition by a group of buyers, the Karnataka High Court on 27 April 2026 ordered two K-RERA certificates to be executed within eight weeks.
The court also let those buyers hand the Special Deputy Commissioner a schedule of the promoter's assets. Other buyers can borrow the idea: put unsold flats, land and bank accounts in writing for the revenue office. A certificate that stays idle for months can be taken to the High Court by writ.
Records Worth Keeping
Every stage asks for the same documents. Hold attested copies of the order, proof of when it was served, all payment receipts and a running interest calculation. If a promoter enters insolvency, the claim goes to the resolution professional, since homebuyers are treated as financial creditors in insolvency.
Buyers who have not yet booked can first look up the promoter's complaint record on the regulator's portal. For registration details of projects we market, use the contact page.
