The Karnataka Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017 — Land Law Notes

The Karnataka Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017

RERA is a central Act, but it deliberately leaves the nuts and bolts — the forms, the fees, the exact rate of interest — to each State to fix by rules. Karnataka did that through the Karnataka Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017, which is what actually operates on the ground when you register a project or file a complaint in Bengaluru. For a short note, do not repeat the central Act — give the concrete Karnataka-specific numbers.

What the Karnataka Rules do

Here is the everyday picture: if the central Act is the skeleton, the Karnataka Rules, 2017 are the operating manual for K-RERA. Made by the State Government under section 84 of the central Act, they prescribe the application forms, the fees, the disclosures for ongoing projects, and the all-important rate of interest — the details the Act says “as may be prescribed”.

In Simple Terms: Whenever the central Act says an amount, a form or a rate will be “as prescribed”, it is the Karnataka Rules, 2017 that fill in the blank for Karnataka. They are how RERA is actually run in this State.

A. The concrete Karnataka-specific rules

Give three or four of these in a short note:

Rate of interest (Rule 16). The rate payable by the promoter and the allottee alike is the State Bank of India’s highest MCLR + 2% (marginal cost of lending rate). This is the single most-quotable rule — it is even-handed and it is what an allottee actually recovers under s. 18.
Project registration fee (Rule 3). Payable per square metre by project type — for group housing, Rs. 5–10 per sq m (capped at Rs. 5 lakh); for commercial projects, Rs. 20–25 per sq m (capped at Rs. 10 lakh); for plotted development, Rs. 5 per sq m (capped at Rs. 2 lakh). Application is in Form A, with a declaration in Form B; the certificate issues in Form C.
Agent registration fee (Rule 10). Rs. 25,000 for an individual and Rs. 2,00,000 for a non-individual; the agent’s registration is valid for five years (application in Form G, certificate in Form H).
Disclosures for ongoing projects. The promoter of an ongoing project must, within the time allowed, disclose the prescribed particulars and deposit 70% of the amounts already realised from allottees into the separate account, to be used for that project’s completion.
The prescribed Forms. The Rules append a full set of forms — Form A (project application), Form B (declaration), Form C (registration certificate), Form D (rejection), Form G (agent application), Form H (agent certificate) — so the process is uniform.

🔑 If you remember only one rule, remember Rule 16 (SBI MCLR + 2%) — it is the number that turns the s. 18 refund-with-interest right into an actual figure, and it applies both ways.

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — what the buyer actually recovers

Facts. A Bengaluru allottee wins a refund of Rs. 30 lakh against a delayed promoter and asks what interest he gets.

Rule. Section 18 gives refund with interest “as may be prescribed”; Karnataka Rule 16 prescribes the rate as the SBI highest MCLR + 2%, applicable to promoter and allottee alike.

Apply. The allottee recovers Rs. 30 lakh plus interest at SBI’s highest MCLR + 2% from the dates he paid, computed by K-RERA — not a rate he must negotiate or prove.

Conclusion. The Karnataka Rules convert the Act’s open-ended promises into a definite, enforceable number — which is exactly why the short note wants the concrete rules, not a restatement of the central Act.

flowchart TD
    ROOT["Karnataka RERA Rules, 2017<br/>(made under s. 84, central Act)"]:::root
    ROOT --> I["Rule 16: interest rate<br/>SBI highest MCLR + 2%<br/>(promoter & allottee alike)"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> P["Rule 3: project fee by type<br/>group housing / commercial / plotted<br/>Forms A, B, C"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> A["Rule 10: agent fee<br/>Rs.25,000 / Rs.2,00,000; valid 5 yrs<br/>Forms G, H"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> O["Ongoing projects: disclose +<br/>deposit 70% of amounts realised"]:::leaf
    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

Case Laws

Neelkamal Realtors and Developers Pvt. Ltd. vs Union of India (2017) — upheld the central Act under which the State Rules are framed, including the rule-making delegation to States; the State Rules operate within this validated scheme.

📄 Full notes + Question Bank (₹199) — every topic in depth, model answers to all past KSLU questions, in one printable PDF. Get the bundle · 10 Solved Problems · All Land Law topics