How the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 protects NRI and OCI buyers purchasing property in Kerala — verifying a registered project, the safeguards you can rely on, and filing a complaint with the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority, managed remotely.
Quick Summary
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 — RERA — protects buyers of under-construction property by making developers register their projects, keep most of the buyers' money in a separate account, sell by carpet area, deliver on time, and answer for defects. In Kerala it is administered by the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA). For an NRI or OCI buyer, who often cannot visit the site or attend hearings, RERA is the single most useful protection available — and the right one to rely on when a developer delays or defaults.
Before buying, an NRI can confirm a project is RERA-registered on the K-RERA portal and check what the developer has committed to. After buying, if possession is delayed or the project is not as promised, the allottee can file a complaint with K-RERA — and, importantly, can do so remotely through a Power of Attorney, without travelling to Kerala for each step. Luke & Luka advises NRI buyers on RERA due diligence before purchase and represents NRI allottees in complaints before K-RERA and the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal, with the matter handled on the client's behalf in Kerala.
Key references: Kerala RERA (K-RERA) · RERA Act, 2016 (India Code) · Kerala Registration Dept · Last reviewed: June 2026
For years, buying an under-construction home in India meant trusting the developer — on the timeline, the size, the quality, and the use of your money. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, known as RERA, replaced much of that trust with rules. It requires developers to register their projects with a regulator, to be accurate about what they are selling, to ring-fence buyers' money, to deliver on time, and to answer for what they build.
In Kerala, RERA is administered by the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA), set up under the Act and operating under the Kerala rules notified in 2018. Every qualifying project in the state must be registered with it before it can be advertised or sold.
For an NRI or OCI buyer, RERA matters more than for almost anyone else. An NRI usually cannot walk the site, sit across from the developer, or attend a hearing on short notice. RERA narrows that disadvantage: it puts the developer's commitments on a public record, protects the buyer's money by law, and provides a remedy that can be pursued from abroad. It is the protection an NRI buyer should understand before paying a rupee — and the one to rely on if a project goes wrong.
The single most valuable thing RERA gives a buyer is also the easiest to use: a public register. Before committing to a project, an NRI buyer can verify it on the K-RERA portal at rera.kerala.gov.in — searching by project or developer to see the registration number, the approved plans, the committed completion date, the land-title position, and the developer's own disclosures.
In Kerala, a project must be registered if it exceeds 500 square metres of land or has more than eight units. Registered developers must also display the RERA registration number and a project QR code in their advertisements — so an advertisement without them is itself a warning sign.
It is worth being clear about what registration does and does not mean. Registration confirms the project is on the regulator's record and that the developer has made the required disclosures and commitments; it is not a guarantee of quality or of the developer's solvency. So the portal check is the start of due diligence, not the end of it — but for an NRI buying at a distance, it is the indispensable first step, and one no buyer should skip.
Once a project is registered, RERA gives its buyers a set of protections that apply by force of law, not by the developer's goodwill. The ones that matter most to an NRI buyer:
A developer must deposit 70% of the money collected from buyers into a separate bank account, to be used only for that project's construction and land cost. It is the protection against the oldest problem in real estate — money from one project being diverted to another — and it means an NRI's payments are tied to the home being built, not the developer's other ventures.
RERA requires sale on the basis of carpet area — the actual usable floor area within the walls — clearly defined, rather than the inflated "super built-up" figure developers once used. An NRI buyer pays for, and can verify, the real area being delivered.
A developer cannot take more than 10% of the price before signing a written agreement for sale, and that agreement must set out the project details, the payment schedule, and the possession date. It is the document that fixes the developer's commitments in enforceable form.
The agreement carries a committed possession date, and RERA makes it real: if the developer is late, the buyer is entitled to interest for every month of delay, or may withdraw and recover the money paid with interest. Delay is no longer the buyer's problem to absorb.
If a structural defect, or a defect in workmanship or quality, appears within five years of possession, the developer must repair it — at no further cost — within 30 days of being told. The obligation follows the building, and the buyer, for five years after handover.
A developer cannot make material changes to the sanctioned plans or the project without the consent of the allottees. What an NRI buyer was shown and promised at purchase cannot quietly become something else.
RERA's protections are only as good as the remedy behind them, and here the Act is genuinely useful — particularly for an NRI, because the remedy does not require being in Kerala.
Where a developer delays possession, fails to deliver what was promised, advertises falsely, or breaches the agreement, the allottee can file a complaint with the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority. The complaint is filed with the authority on payment of a prescribed fee, and the authority — or its adjudicating officer — can order the developer to complete the project, hand over possession, pay interest or compensation, or refund the buyer. A party dissatisfied with the order can appeal to the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal.
The point that matters most for an NRI: this entire process can be conducted remotely through a Power of Attorney. An NRI allottee in the Gulf, the United States, or the United Kingdom can authorise an advocate to file the complaint, attend the hearings, and pursue any appeal in Kerala on their behalf — without flying back for each date. It is what makes RERA a practical remedy for an NRI, and not just a theoretical one.
RERA is one part of a sound NRI property purchase, not the whole of it. It governs the developer and the project — but an NRI buyer also needs the title to the property verified, the funds and repatriation handled under FEMA, and a Power of Attorney in place if they cannot be present for registration.
These fit together. RERA tells you the project is registered and the developer accountable; title due diligence tells you the land and ownership are clean; FEMA compliance governs how the money moves in and, later, out; and a Power of Attorney lets the whole transaction proceed while the NRI is abroad. Treating RERA in isolation leaves the other risks unaddressed — which is why an NRI purchase is best handled as a single, coordinated matter.
The firm works with NRI buyers at both ends of a property purchase:
Throughout, the matter is handled in Kerala on the client's behalf, under a Power of Attorney, so an NRI does not need to travel for filings or hearings. Subject to the applicable law and the specific facts, the work is directed at securing the protections RERA already provides — verified before purchase, and enforced after it.
Yes. RERA protects every allottee of a registered real estate project equally, and an NRI or OCI buyer has exactly the same rights under the Act as a resident buyer. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 is administered in Kerala by the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA). An NRI buying an apartment or building in a RERA-registered project in Kerala can rely on the project's registration, the protection of the developer's escrow account, carpet-area pricing, the committed possession date, and the right to a remedy if the developer defaults.
Registered projects are listed on the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority portal at rera.kerala.gov.in, where you can search by project or promoter and see the registration number, approved plans, committed timelines, and the promoter's disclosures. In Kerala, a real estate project that exceeds 500 square metres or has more than eight units must be registered before it is advertised or sold. Developers are also required to display the RERA registration number and a project QR code in their advertisements. Verifying registration on the portal before paying any money is the first and most important check for any buyer, and especially for an NRI buying at a distance.
Yes. An NRI does not need to be physically present in Kerala to pursue a RERA complaint. The complaint is filed with the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority, and an NRI can authorise an advocate to file and conduct it on their behalf through a Power of Attorney — which is how most NRI matters are run. This allows the entire process, from filing to hearings before the authority and any appeal, to be handled in Kerala without the NRI travelling for each step.
Where a developer fails to hand over possession by the date committed in the agreement, RERA gives the allottee two routes. The buyer can continue with the project and claim interest from the developer for every month of delay, or withdraw from the project and seek a refund of the amount paid together with interest. The claim is made by complaint to the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority, with an appeal available to the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal. An NRI can pursue either route remotely through a Power of Attorney.
Most are, but not all. Under RERA as applied in Kerala, a real estate project must be registered with K-RERA if it exceeds 500 square metres of land or has more than eight units; projects below that threshold, and projects that already had a completion certificate before RERA came into force, are generally outside the registration requirement. Because an unregistered project does not carry RERA's protections, an NRI buyer should confirm both whether a project requires registration and whether it is in fact registered before committing.
The firm advises NRI and OCI buyers on RERA due diligence before purchase and represents NRI allottees in complaints before the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority and the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal. Matters are managed remotely with Power of Attorney, for clients across the Gulf, USA, UK, and beyond.
luka@lukeandluka.in+91 96057 61330