RERA Agent Registration: What Real Estate Brokers Must Comply With
RERA doesn't just regulate builders — real estate agents facilitating transactions in RERA-registered projects have their own, separate registration obligation, and dealing in unregistered projects can put an agent's own compliance standing at risk.
Why agents are separately regulated
Real estate agents/brokers sit at the point of sale between buyers and promoters, and are often a buyer's primary source of project information and guidance — RERA brought agents within its regulatory scope specifically because their conduct (accurate representation of project details, facilitating compliant transactions) directly affects buyer protection, not just the promoter's own obligations.
The registration requirement
Under Sections 9–10, a real estate agent must obtain registration with the state RERA Authority to facilitate the sale or purchase of any plot, apartment, or building in a RERA-registered project. An agent cannot lawfully facilitate transactions in RERA-registered projects without holding this registration.
What registered agents must maintain
- Proper records of transactions facilitated.
- Compliance with the code of conduct prescribed for agents, including obligations around accurate disclosure of project information to prospective buyers.
- Not facilitating the sale of plots/apartments/buildings in a project that should be RERA-registered but is not — an agent cannot simply plead ignorance of a project's registration status as a defence for facilitating a non-compliant sale.
Consequences of operating without registration
An agent facilitating transactions in RERA-registered projects without holding the required agent registration is in violation of the Act, exposing them to penalties — this is a real, enforceable compliance obligation, not a purely formal or optional registration.
Why this matters for a buyer choosing an agent
A buyer working with a RERA-registered agent has some additional assurance that the agent is operating within a defined regulatory compliance framework — including the code of conduct and record-keeping obligations — compared to an unregistered intermediary. Checking an agent's RERA registration status (typically verifiable on the state RERA Authority's website alongside project registration details) is a reasonable, low-effort due diligence step before relying heavily on an agent's representations about a project.
What this means for the brokerage/real estate services industry
The registration and code-of-conduct requirements have pushed real estate brokerage toward a more formalised, accountable professional structure in states where enforcement has been robust — though enforcement intensity and buyer awareness of agent-registration requirements has varied considerably across states, meaning the practical assurance this registration provides is not uniformly strong everywhere.