Most buyers are told to “check RERA” and never told what to read once they get there. The filing is a long document and only about six things in it matter to you. Those six settle nearly every dispute you will have with a brochure — acreage, unit count, configurations, carpet area, dates and progress.
Key takeaways
- Project extent settles acreage disputes and lets you calculate density.
- Block and unit counts give you the other half of that arithmetic.
- The carpet area schedule is the only size figure worth comparing between projects.
- The declared completion date is the only date with consequences attached.
- Quarterly progress updates show built against promised. Read two years of them.
Why this matters here: Century Tisora — a project absent from its developer’s own website, where the filing is the primary source rather than a cross-check. Our approach is on the listing page.
The six things to read
Open the filing and go straight to these. Everything else is context.
| What to read | What it settles |
|---|---|
| Promoter entity name | Who your counterparty actually is |
| Project extent (land area) | Acreage disputes; half the density sum |
| Blocks and units | The other half; also whether a config exists |
| Carpet area schedule | Real usable size, comparable across projects |
| Declared completion date | The only date with legal consequences |
| Quarterly progress updates | Whether the project is on track |
Notice that four of the six are just numbers. You are not interpreting legal language; you are copying figures into a sheet.
The exception is the progress updates, which require a little reading across quarters, and that is where most of the value is.
Before you start, save or screenshot the filing as it stands on the day you read it. Filings are amended — dates get extended, plans get revised — and you will want the version you relied on when you made your decision.
Note the date of your copy somewhere. If a figure is ever in dispute, a dated record of what the filing said is worth a great deal more than a recollection.
Start with the promoter entity
This is the first thing to read and the most commonly skipped, because buyers assume the brand on the hoarding is the counterparty.
Often it is not. Projects are frequently registered by a subsidiary, a special purpose vehicle or a joint venture company, which is normal practice and not improper in itself.
But your agreement is with that entity. Its obligations, its assets and its record are what apply if something goes wrong, not the parent group’s reputation.
So read the name, and if it is not the group you expected, ask how the two relate and whether the parent stands behind the obligations in writing.
Then search that entity separately on the portal to see what else it has registered and whether complaints have been filed against it. An established brand and a newly formed SPV can have very different histories.
The numbers, and the sums to do with them
Once you have extent, blocks and units, you can compute the two figures that tell you most about daily life in the project.
Homes per acre. Units divided by extent. Under 50 is low density, 60 to 80 is the Bengaluru norm, over 80 is dense. This one number tells you more about lift waits, parking and noise than any amenity list.
Homes per block. Units divided by blocks, which approximates how many families share each lift core and corridor. A project with the same density can feel very different depending on how it is distributed.
Both sums take seconds and neither figure is usually published anywhere. They are yours to derive.
Also compare the filing’s extent against what the brochure claims. Where they differ, the filing is the number with legal weight, and the discrepancy is worth a question.
Our guide to Lodha Beaumont Estate price breakdown covers the bands and the common mistakes.
The carpet area schedule is the most useful page
If you read only one part of a filing, read this. It lists each unit type with its carpet area, and it is the only size figure that compares cleanly between projects.
Super built-up area includes a share of common areas, and the loading applied varies between developers, so two apartments advertised at the same square footage can differ meaningfully in usable space.
Carpet area is defined and disclosed precisely so this comparison is possible. Use it for every project on your shortlist and the comparisons become honest.
The schedule also settles configuration disputes. If secondary sources disagree about whether a project has a 4 BHK, the carpet area schedule either lists one or it does not.
Write down the carpet area and the super built-up figure side by side, and note the ratio. A project loading 1.4 times is giving you less than one loading 1.25 times at the same advertised size.
The progress updates are where the real information is
Promoters file quarterly updates on construction progress, and almost nobody reads them. They are the closest thing to an objective record of whether a developer does what it says.
Pull the last eight quarters for an older project by the same developer, and look at what was promised versus what was reported built. A consistent pattern in either direction is highly informative.
Then do the same for the project you are considering, if it has been registered long enough to have filed any. Early filings tell you whether groundwork has actually started.
Also look for the complaints section against the promoter. Complaints are public, and reading what they were about tells you where this developer tends to have friction — delays, specification changes, or common-area handover.
None of this requires expertise. It requires twenty minutes and a willingness to read something dull, which is precisely why it is such an underused advantage.
It is also the cheapest diligence available to you. Everything else costs a site visit, a lawyer or a weekend.
Our guide to how phased filings and declared dates work covers what to do when a project has several registrations.
Common questions
What should I look for in a RERA filing?
Six things: the promoter entity name, the project land extent, the block and unit counts, the carpet area schedule, the declared completion date, and the quarterly progress updates. Four of them are just numbers to copy down.
Why is the carpet area schedule the most useful part?
Because carpet area is defined and disclosed precisely, making it the only size figure comparable between projects. Super built-up area includes a varying share of common space, so two apartments advertised at the same size can differ in usable space.
What do quarterly progress updates tell me?
Whether the developer does what it says. Pull the last eight quarters on an older project by the same promoter and compare promised against reported built. A consistent pattern in either direction is highly informative about delivery risk.
Why does the promoter entity name matter in a filing?
Because your agreement is with the registered entity, which may be a subsidiary, special purpose vehicle or joint venture rather than the parent brand. Its obligations and record apply, so search that entity separately on the portal.
What if the filing and the brochure give different figures?
The filing is the figure with legal weight, so use it and ask about the discrepancy. Differences in land extent, unit count or configurations between a brochure and a filing are worth raising before you pay anything.
Want a filing read properly?
Send us the project or the RERA number and we will pull the filing, extract the six figures that matter, compute density and homes per block, and read the progress updates. No charge.
Related reading
Filing contents and portal layout can change; this describes what to look for rather than a fixed document structure. Figures above are drawn from published project information and are indicative. Where sources conflicted we have stated both positions rather than picking one. Verify any registration yourself on the Karnataka RERA portal before paying a booking amount.
