Why the law splits projects into phases
RERA (in force May 2017) defines a "project" by what a developer commits to deliver by a specific date. A 6-tower development built over 10 years can't honestly promise one date — so Section 3 lets each phase register as a separate project. That's why a flagship like Oberoi's Three Sixty West/North type listings show multiple pages on a RERA tracker: each page is one legal promise.
Each RERA ID carries its own obligations:
- Separate escrow: 70% of buyer payments for that phase must sit in a dedicated account, withdrawable only in proportion to certified construction progress — money from Tower B buyers can't finish Tower A.
- Separate deadline: delay compensation (interest at SBI MCLR + 2%) is computed against that phase's committed date.
- Separate disclosures: quarterly progress updates, sanctioned plans, and carpet-area definitions are filed per ID.
Buyer takeaway: never evaluate "the project" — evaluate your phase's RERA ID. Its deadline, its escrow, its approvals. A gleaming finished Phase 1 tells you nothing legally binding about Phase 4.
How to verify any project in 5 minutes
- Get the exact RERA ID from the builder's ad (mandatory on all marketing since 2017).
- Look it up on the state authority site (MahaRERA for Mumbai: maharera.maharashtra.gov.in).
- Check the proposed completion date — not the salesperson's verbal date.
- Open the quarterly progress filings; compare booked-vs-total units for honest demand data.
- Confirm your tower number is inside this ID's scope, not a future phase's.
Why trackers start with RERA IDs, not project pages
Aggregators build from the regulator's registry outward: the RERA ID is the primary key — unique, legally defined, and attached to filings. "Project" is just a marketing grouping layered on top. Data modeling lesson: always anchor on the identifier the source of truth issues, then aggregate upward.