Is your property broker RERA-registered? What sections 9 and 10 require, and how to check

Rules and rates as of 18 October 2026.

Most people who book a flat in a new project meet a broker before they meet the builder. The broker shows the site, shares the price sheet, and often collects the cheque for the booking amount. Since 2017 the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) has said that many of these brokers must be registered with the state's real estate regulator, and has given them a short list of legal duties. This explainer sets out what the Act actually says, what the state rules add, and the checks you can do before you hand over any money.

Who counts as a "real estate agent"

Section 2(zm) of the Act defines a real estate agent widely. It covers anyone who negotiates or acts for one person in selling a plot, apartment or building in a real estate project to another, and receives "remuneration or fees or any other charges for his services, whether as commission or otherwise". It also covers anyone who introduces prospective buyers and sellers to each other, through any medium. The definition expressly includes "property dealers, brokers, middlemen by whatever name called".

So the label on the visiting card does not matter. A channel partner, a property consultant, an online listing team that arranges site visits for a fee: if they fit the description, they are agents under the Act.

Section 9: registration before they sell

Section 9(1) says no real estate agent shall facilitate the sale or purchase of, or act on behalf of anyone in, a plot, apartment or building in a registered project that is being sold by the promoter in any planning area, "without obtaining registration under this section". In plain terms: if the project is registered with RERA and the builder is selling, the broker in the middle needs a RERA registration of their own.

The rest of section 9 sets out how that works:

• Application. The agent applies to the state Authority in the form, with the fee and documents, that the state rules prescribe (s.9(2)).
• Deemed registration. If the Authority neither rejects the application nor points out deficiencies within the period set by the rules, the agent "shall be deemed to have been registered" (s.9(4)).
• A number on every deal. The Authority gives each agent a registration number, which the agent must quote "in every sale facilitated by him" (s.9(5)).
• Limited validity. Registration lasts for a period set by the rules and has to be renewed (s.9(6)).
• Revocation. The Authority can revoke or suspend registration for breach of its conditions or if it was obtained by misrepresentation or fraud, after giving the agent a hearing (s.9(7)).

One limit is worth knowing. The words of section 9(1) are tied to units in registered projects "being sold by the promoter". A broker arranging the resale of a flat between two private owners is a different situation, and whether a state's regulator treats that broker as needing registration is a question to check with that regulator or a lawyer.

Section 10: what a registered agent must do

Registration is not the only duty. Section 10 says every registered agent shall:

1. Not facilitate a sale in a project that is "not registered with the Authority" when it needs to be (s.10(a)). An agent pitching a "pre-launch" in an unregistered project is breaking this clause.
2. Keep books of account, records and documents as the rules prescribe (s.10(b)).
3. Not engage in unfair trade practices (s.10(c)). The Act names two kinds: false or misleading statements, oral, written or visual, about the standard of services or about approvals or affiliations the promoter or agent does not have; and permitting advertisements for services that are not intended to be offered.
4. Help you get the information and documents you are entitled to at the time of booking (s.10(d)).
5. Do any other functions the rules prescribe (s.10(e)).

What happens if an agent breaks the rules

Section 62 says an agent who fails to comply with section 9 or section 10 is liable to a penalty of ten thousand rupees for every day the default continues, which may cumulatively extend up to 5% of the cost of the plot, apartment or building for which the sale or purchase was facilitated, as determined by the Authority.

Ignoring the regulator's orders is treated separately. Section 65 provides a daily penalty for an agent who fails to comply with the Authority's orders, again capped at 5% of the estimated cost of the unit concerned. Section 66 goes further for an agent who ignores an order of the Appellate Tribunal: imprisonment for up to one year, or a fine for every day of default up to 10% of the estimated cost of the unit, or both.

You do not need a lawyer's permission to complain. Section 31(1) lets "any aggrieved person" file a complaint with the Authority or the adjudicating officer against "any promoter allottee or real estate agent" for a violation of the Act, rules or regulations.

Worked example: the ceiling on a penalty

Say a broker facilitated the booking of an ₹80 lakh flat without a RERA registration. The penalty under section 62 builds at ₹10,000 a day, up to a cap of 5% of the flat's cost. Figures computed by us.

• Cap = 5% × ₹80,00,000 = ₹4,00,000.
• Days to reach the cap = ₹4,00,000 ÷ ₹10,000 a day = 40 days.
• For scale, a brokerage of 1% on the same flat would be ₹80,000 and 2% would be ₹1,60,000 (illustrative rates; brokerage is a matter of contract, not of the Act).

The amount actually levied is for the Authority to decide; the Act sets only the daily rate and the ceiling. A penalty on the agent is not the same as compensation to you: if you have lost money, that is a separate claim, and a lawyer can tell you where to bring it.

What the state rules add: two examples

The fee, the form and the validity period come from each state's RERA rules, so they differ. Two states whose rules we read in full:

Item	Telangana (G.O.Ms.No.202, 31 Jul 2017)	Uttar Pradesh (Notification 1438, 27 Oct 2016)
Application form	Form G (rule 8)	Form G (rule 9)
Fee, individual	₹10,000	₹25,000
Fee, firm or company	₹50,000	₹2,50,000
Decision period	30 days (rule 9(1))	Not stated in the text we read
Validity	5 years (rule 9(4))	Rule 10(3) says 10 years; Forms H and K say 5 years
Renewal fee, individual / other	₹5,000 / ₹25,000	₹5,000 / ₹50,000

Note the conflict in the UP text: the rule and the certificate formats give different validity periods. These are the rules as originally notified; a state may since have amended its fees, so treat the table as the starting point and confirm on the regulator's site.

Five checks before you pay a broker anything

1. Ask for the agent's RERA registration number and the state it was issued in. The Act requires the agent to quote it in every sale, so a reluctant answer is itself information.
2. Look it up on the state regulator's portal. Haryana's regulator, for example, publishes a list of registered agents with the certificate number (in the form HRERA-PKL-REA-serial-year), the agent's name, district, category, and certificate issue and expiry dates. Check that the name matches and that the expiry date has not passed.
3. Check the project too. A registered agent selling an unregistered project is still in breach of section 10(a). Search the project's own RERA number on the same portal.
4. Pay the builder, not the broker. Make the booking cheque or transfer out to the promoter, never to the broker personally, and get a receipt from the promoter.
5. Keep the paper trail. Save the brochure, messages and any written promises the broker made. If they turn out to be false, section 10(c) and section 31 give you a route to complain.

If a dispute over money is already under way, a lawyer who practises before your state's RERA can tell you whether to complain against the agent, the promoter, or both.