MahaRERA: RERA Disclosures Mandatory in All Property Ads

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has imposed a ₹15,000 penalty on a Pune-based developer for failing to prominently display mandatory RERA registration details, regardless of the size of the advertisement or its free publication.

The authority observed that a promoter is still accountable for following its directions whether the advertisement is paid for or free of charge.

The MahaRERA registration number and internet address must be posted in font size equivalent to or larger than that of the project’s contact information and address, according to the regulator.

The order relates to the regulator starting suo motu proceedings after discovering that an advertising was issued in breach of its April 2025 rules and norms.

What are the MahaRERA’s advertising rules?

In April 2025, MahaRERA required developers and real estate agents to prominently display the project’s MahaRERA registration number and a QR code linking to its RERA homepage in all promotions. Non-compliance may result in penalties up to ₹50,000.

MahaRERA reported that on some websites, the QR code and registration number are either not shown correctly or are not visible owing to low color contrast and tiny letter size. The regulator cautioned developers and real estate agents that non-compliance may result in penalties of up to ₹50,000.The font size of the MahaRERA registration number and website address in marketing or promotions must be the same as or greater than the text size used for the project’s contact information and address. However, if the contact information is displayed in multiple fonts, the MahaRERA registration number must be equivalent to or greater than the largest font used for contact information and address in the advertisement,” according to the MahaRERA decision of April 8, 2025.

MahaRERA Notice and the Developer’s Response

MahaRERA served a suo motu notice on the Pune-based developers, citing infringement of the aforementioned norms in the advertisement.

In response, the developer claimed that it had sent all required information, including the MahaRERA registration number, disclosures, and a QR code, to a professional advertising agency.

The developer argued that a larger advertisement published as part of the same campaign included all required disclosures, whereas the smaller advertisement under consideration was a free classified advertisement distributed as part of a promotional plan.

According to the developer, any variation was inadvertent and happened at the agency level.

MahaRERA’s Order

According to MahaRERA, the advertisement had the QR code, registration number, and website address, but the text size was smaller than the project’s contact data, which violates the April 2025 ruling.The respondent’s claim that the smaller advertisement was free as part of a promotional scheme linked to the larger advertisement cannot be considered, according to MahaRERA’s suo motu order.The publication of an advertisement by a promoter, whether paid or free, does not absolve the promoter of violating the Authority’s orders,” the order stated.

MahaRERA levied a ₹15,000 penalty under Section 63 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, after finding that the developer breached the Authority’s orders.

The Authority ordered the promoter to pay the penalty within 15 days, or the sum will be doubled up to a maximum of ₹50,000.