A favourable RERA order is only half the battle. The harder half is recovery. AMLEGALS converts refund, interest and compensation orders into realised value — through recovery certificates under Section 40, attachment as arrears of land revenue, and penalty pressure under Section 63.
The single most common frustration in RERA litigation is not winning the order — it is collecting on it. A stressed promoter has every incentive to delay, and a paper order has no value until it bites on an asset. Section 40 is the bridge: unpaid interest, penalty and compensation are recoverable as arrears of land revenue, which unlocks the full attachment-and-sale machinery of the State revenue administration.
Effective enforcement is a campaign, not a filing. It requires the correct recovery certificate, identification of attachable assets — bank accounts, receivables, unsold inventory — persistent follow-through with the District Collector, parallel penalty proceedings under Section 63, and, where the administration stalls, a writ petition to compel action. Where the promoter is genuinely insolvent, the strategy shifts to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, where allottees are financial creditors.
Applications to the Authority to issue a recovery certificate under Section 40 once an order is final, with correct computation of principal, interest and compensation.
Follow-through with the District Collector / Tehsildar for recovery as arrears of land revenue — demand notices, attachment of bank accounts, receivables and unsold inventory.
Pursuing attachment and sale of the promoter's movable and immovable property where voluntary compliance fails, including identification of attachable assets.
Initiating Section 63 / 64 penalty proceedings for continued non-compliance, up to 5% of the project cost, as additional pressure for payment.
High Court writ petitions to direct the Authority or Collector to act on recovery certificates where administrative delay stalls realisation.
Coordinated recovery for groups of allottees against a common project, consolidating recovery certificates and execution strategy.
Under Section 40(1) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016, any interest or penalty imposed, and under Section 40(2) any compensation or interest ordered by the adjudicating officer, that remains unpaid is recoverable as an arrear of land revenue. In practice the Authority issues a recovery certificate to the District Collector, who recovers the amount through the revenue machinery — including attachment and sale of the promoter's property.
A recovery certificate is the instrument by which the RERA Authority refers an unpaid order to the District Collector / Tehsildar for recovery as an arrear of land revenue. It specifies the defaulting promoter, the amount due (principal, interest and compensation), and the project. Once issued, the Collector exercises powers under the State land revenue code — demand notice, attachment of movable and immovable property, and sale — to realise the amount.
Yes. Recovery as an arrear of land revenue permits attachment of the promoter's movable property (including bank accounts) and immovable property. Several State Authorities and High Courts have upheld attachment of project receivables and unsold inventory to satisfy allottee refund orders. The specific mode of attachment follows the State land revenue code invoked through the recovery certificate.
Section 63 provides that if a promoter fails to comply with, or contravenes, an order of the Authority, the promoter is liable to a penalty for every day during which the default continues, which may cumulatively extend up to 5% of the estimated cost of the real estate project. Section 64 provides a similar penalty for non-compliance with Appellate Tribunal orders, extending up to 5% of the project cost, with imprisonment up to three years for continued default.
Timelines depend on the District Collector's revenue machinery and vary by State; coordinated follow-up through representations and, where needed, writ petitions to direct expeditious recovery is often necessary. The promoter may challenge the underlying order in appeal (Section 44) but the recovery certificate itself, once the order is final, is an execution step — not a fresh adjudication — and is resisted only on narrow grounds such as satisfaction of the demand.
No. No engagement is treated as accepted until conflicts, scope and terms are confirmed in writing.
Share the RERA order details, amount due and the promoter's known assets for a confidential preliminary assessment.