UP RERA Complaint Filing — Step-by-Step Procedure for Allottees and Advocates

Three documents control a UP RERA complaint:

1. Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 — central. Substantive rights (Section 18 refund/interest, Section 31 complaint right) flow from here.
2. The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2016 — set the state-specific interest rate (SBI's highest MCLR + 1% — note: 1%, not 2% as Maharashtra applies), the project registration forms, and the complaint fee structure.
3. The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Procedure) Regulations, 2017 — Regulation 4 prescribes Form M for allottee complaints, ₹1,000 filing fee per complaint, and the procedure for hearings.

Key state-specific difference: UP RERA's prescribed interest rate is SBI MCLR + 1% (per Rule 16), not + 2% like Maharashtra. This is a frequently-cited point of difference in interstate buyer forums and explains why Section 18 awards in UP are typically smaller (in interest terms) than Maharashtra for the same delay.

UP RERA operates three benches, each with defined territorial jurisdiction. Filing at the wrong bench leads to transfer (not dismissal), but adds 4-8 weeks to the timeline:

• Lucknow Bench (Main) — covers all districts of UP except Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad. Address: 'Rera Bhawan', Vibhuti Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.
• Gautam Buddh Nagar Bench (Noida) — covers Gautam Buddh Nagar district. Address: D-23, Sector 1, Noida.
• Greater Noida Bench — co-located with the GBN bench, hears Ghaziabad-district matters and some specialised matters.

When filing online, the portal auto-routes based on the project's pin code. Common mistake: if the project is in Greater Noida West (Noida Extension), it is administratively in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, not Ghaziabad — file at the GBN bench. The portal will catch most of these, but if you list the project address as 'Ghaziabad' you may get routed wrongly.

Project ID — every UP RERA-registered project has a Project ID in the format `UPRERAPRJ_XXXXX`. Search the registered-projects list on up-rera.in to get the correct ID before filing. If the project is unregistered, an additional Section 59 prayer should be made along with the Section 18 complaint.

Form M under Regulation 4 of the 2017 Procedure Regulations is filed online at up-rera.in. The fields:

1. Project particulars — auto-fills once Project ID is selected. Verify the promoter name matches the agreement.
2. Complainant details — name, address, PAN, Aadhaar, contact number, email. NRI complainants enter overseas address and Indian correspondence address.
3. Respondent details — auto-filled. Add additional respondents (e.g. directors, related entities) if needed.
4. Unit particulars — unit number, tower, carpet area, agreement value, allotment date, possession-as-per-agreement date.
5. Brief facts (2,000 characters max) — write a tight chronology: booking date, agreement date, payment tranches with amounts, demand letters received, possession date promised, delay event, your attempts to communicate, builder's response, current site status.
6. Reliefs sought (multi-select) — refund with interest, interest till possession, possession with timeline, compensation, penalty under Section 59 (for non-registration), specific performance, others.
7. Documents — upload as PDF, max 10 MB per file. Required: agreement for sale, payment proofs, allotment letter. Recommended: interest computation sheet, builder correspondence, site photographs.

One complaint per unit per allottee — UP RERA strictly enforces this. Two allottees of two units in the same tower file two separate complaints with two fees.

Fees (per the 2017 Regulations + subsequent fee notifications):

• Complaint filing fee: ₹1,000 per complaint (uniform across allottee, promoter or interested-third-party complaints).
• Adjudicating Officer compensation application: additional ₹1,000.
• REAT appeal: ₹1,000 (in addition to any pre-deposit by the appellant promoter).
• Certified copy of order: ₹50 per page.

UP RERA's fee is the lowest among the major state RERAs (₹1,000 vs MahaRERA's ₹5,000, vs Haryana's ₹1,000 etc.). This has contributed to the high complaint volume.

Timelines:

• First hearing notice: typically 45-90 days after admission (slower than MahaRERA due to bench volumes).
• Reply notice to Respondent: 21 days.
• Order: Section 29(3) prescribes 60 days; UP RERA averages 9-14 months. The Supreme Court has nudged on speed but the bench-level volume remains a bottleneck.

Outcome pattern (from observed orders):

• Section 18 refund + interest is granted in approximately 70-75% of well-prepared allottee complaints where delay is established and the agreement is on record.
• Interest is awarded at SBI MCLR + 1% (rule-mandated), from each tranche date till refund.
• Penalty under Section 63 is added in roughly 30% of orders for builder non-compliance.
• Compensation prayers are referred to the Adjudicating Officer — be prepared for an additional 6-9 month proceeding for that.
• In contested cases where the builder shows force majeure with documentation (NGT bans on construction in NCR, COVID lockdown orders), partial extensions are sometimes granted but rarely waive Section 18 entirely.

Recovery — under Section 40, RERA awards are recoverable as 'arrears of land revenue' through the District Magistrate. UP RERA has begun forwarding non-compliance certificates to DMs of the project district under recovery proceedings, with reasonable enforcement in Noida and Lucknow districts.