Filing a RERA complaint yourself: forms, fees and timelines in six states

Rules and rates as of 14 October 2026.

You do not need a lawyer to file a RERA complaint. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 lets "any aggrieved person" go to the regulator directly, and the filing fee in most states is ₹1,000. What changes from state to state is the form, the fee, and how much of the process is online.

This guide sets out what the rules say in six states, and flags where we could not read the official page. It is not legal advice. For a large claim, a lawyer's help with drafting is often worth it.

What the Act says

Section 31(1) of the RERA Act lets any aggrieved person file a complaint with the Authority or the adjudicating officer for violations of the Act, the rules or the regulations by a promoter, allottee or real estate agent. "Person" includes an association of allottees and a registered voluntary consumer association. Section 31(2) leaves the form, manner and fee to be specified by regulations. In practice most states put them in their RERA rules, which is why the form names differ.

There are two doors, and you may need both:

• The Authority hears complaints about violations of the Act, the rules or the agreement, such as a refund or delay interest.
• The adjudicating officer, under section 71(1), adjudges compensation under sections 12, 14, 18 and 19. The officer must be a serving or former District Judge.

The 60-day timelines, in the Act's words

Section 29(4) says questions before the Authority "shall be dealt with as expeditiously as possible" and that it "shall dispose of the same within a period of sixty days from the date of receipt of the application". If it cannot, it must record its reasons in writing. Telangana's regulator reads this as applying to complaints in its FAQs dated 7 July 2023.

Section 71(2) sets the same 60-day target, with the same duty to record reasons, for the adjudicating officer.

Neither is a hard deadline. The Act requires reasons for delay, not a decision by day 60. Plan for longer.

Section 44(2) gives you 60 days to appeal to the Appellate Tribunal, counted from the date you receive a copy of the order. The tribunal can admit a late appeal if you show sufficient cause.

Six states: form, fee and where to file

State	Form (Authority / adjudicating officer)	Fee	How to file
Maharashtra	Form A (rule 6) / Form B (rule 7)	₹5,000 each, by NEFT, RTGS or digital mode	Rule 6 allows web-based filing once the Authority provides it. MahaRERA's portal could not be opened
Karnataka	Form N (rule 29) / Form O (rule 30)	₹1,000 each, by demand draft in the 2017 rule text	Not verified: rera.karnataka.gov.in blocked our reader
Haryana	Form CRA (rule 28) / Form CAO (rule 29)	₹1,000 per complaint plus ₹10 per annexure (HRERA filing guides)	Register online on the Panchkula or Gurugram portal, then deliver hard copies
Uttar Pradesh	Form M (rule 33) / Form N (rule 34)	₹1,000 each	Online in Form M, under UP RERA's 2019 General Regulations, at up-rera.in
Telangana	Form M (rule 34) / Form N (rule 35)	₹1,000 each, by demand draft, banker's cheque or online payment	Complainant login at rera.telangana.gov.in/complaint
Tamil Nadu	Not in the 2017 rules	Not verified	Not verified: the TNRERA portal blocked our reader

A few notes on that table.

Maharashtra

The ₹5,000 fee and Forms A and B come from the Maharashtra RERA Rules, 2017 as originally framed. We could not open MahaRERA's site to check whether the fee or the online process has changed since. Confirm the current fee on the portal before you pay. Rule 7 says a complaint to the adjudicating officer goes "through the office of the Authority".

Karnataka

The 2017 rules prescribe Forms N and O with a ₹1,000 demand draft. We could not read the regulator's own pages to see whether that has changed. Treat this row as a starting point and check the portal.

Haryana

Haryana has two authorities: Panchkula and Gurugram. Both filing guides say you register on the portal, get an online complaint number, pay by demand draft or the online gateway, and then deliver printed sets: three in Panchkula, and in Gurugram one set plus one for each respondent. Gurugram's Adjudication of Complaints Regulations of 16 February 2018 say complaints will "ordinarily" be considered within 7 days of receipt, and that notice to the builder is "ordinarily" 21 days.

Uttar Pradesh

The 2016 rules fix a ₹1,000 fee and a demand draft. The 2019 General Regulations then require complaints to be filed online in Form M, including compensation claims, and say compensation matters are decided "preferably within 60 days".

Telangana

The 2017 rules allow online payment of the ₹1,000 fee, and the regulator runs a complainant login on its site.

Tamil Nadu

The Tamil Nadu RERA Rules, 2017 (G.O.(Ms.) No. 112, 22 June 2017) contain no complaint rule; they set only the appeal fee of ₹1,000. The complaint form and fee are therefore in the regulator's regulations or portal, neither of which we could open.

Worked example: what filing costs

Say your complaint has 12 annexures: the agreement, receipts, letters and so on. You want a refund with interest from the Authority and, separately, compensation from the adjudicating officer. Formula: total fee = Authority fee + adjudicating officer fee, plus any per-annexure charge.

• Maharashtra: ₹5,000 + ₹5,000 = ₹10,000
• Karnataka, UP, Telangana: ₹1,000 + ₹1,000 = ₹2,000
• Haryana, Authority only: ₹1,000 + (12 × ₹10) = ₹1,120. We could not read the rules schedule that sets the Form CAO fee, so the second complaint's cost is not shown.

Now the timeline. If the Authority receives your complaint on 2 November 2026, day 60 falls on 1 January 2027. If you receive a copy of the final order on 15 February 2027, the 60-day appeal window runs to about 16 April 2027. Mark both, and keep proof of when you received the order.

Before you file

• Check the project's RERA registration number on your state's portal. Complaints are usually tied to it.
• Put together the agreement, every payment receipt, and your letters to the builder, in date order.
• Decide what you are asking for: refund, interest, possession, repairs, or compensation. That decides which form, and which officer.
• Pay the fee only on the official portal or by the mode the rules allow, and keep the receipt.