Extending a RERA registration: grounds, process and pitfalls

Construction timelines slip — for reasons good and bad. RERA allows a registration to be extended, but the grounds and the process matter. A weak application can do more harm than none.

Grounds that tend to hold

• Force majeure and events genuinely beyond the promoter's control.
• Delays in statutory approvals not attributable to the promoter.
• Reasonable circumstances supported by contemporaneous evidence.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Applying late, after the registration has already lapsed.
• Vague grounds unsupported by documents.
• Ignoring the consent and disclosure requirements tied to an extension.

Treated properly, an extension protects both the project and its buyers. Treated casually, it becomes an admission without a remedy.