The Act covers both residential and commercial real estate. Section 2e defines apartment and section 2j defines building which include both residential and commercial real estate.

As regards the ambit of the Act, there is no distinction between an ongoing project and a future project, i.e. both ongoing / incomplete projects and future projects are covered under the Act. Section 3(1) first proviso provides that promoters of all ongoing projects which have not received completion certificate will need to register their project with the Regulator Authority, within 3 months of its commencement.

The promoter can advertise his project for sale after the project has been registered with the Regulatory Authority as provided in section 3(1).

Section 4 of the Act provides for details / information and undertaking to be provided by the promoter to the Authority for registration of the project. The mechanism for registration i.e. the requisite forms to be filled, the fees to be paid etc. are to be determined by the Rules made by the appropriate Government.

The promoter is required to make an application as per Form and fees prescribed by the Rules made by the appropriate Government, along with the documents / information and undertaking specified in section 4 to the Authority for registration of the project. In addition, the promoter is also required to append other / additional documents / information as specified in the Rules.

The Regulatory Authority is required to register the project, if in compliance with the Act and the Rules and Regulations, within 30 days of the application having been received by the Authority.

As per section 4, the validity of the registration granted to a project shall be the period declared by the promoter under section 4(2)(l)(C), at the time of making the application for registration, within which he would complete the project.

As per section 4(2)(l)(D) third proviso, the promoter is required to get his accounts audited within six months after the end of every financial year by a chartered accountant in practice, and shall produce a statement of accounts duly certified and signed by such chartered accountant and it shall be verified during the audit that the amounts collected for a particular project have been utilized for the project and the withdrawal has been in compliance with the proportion to the percentage of completion of the project.

The terms and conditions, the application form and the fees payable for extension of registration shall be in the manner as prescribed by the Rules.

As per section 7 the Authority has the powers to revoke registration of a project, for violations specified under the said section. However, revocation of registration of a project is envisaged as a last resort and can only be done after providing a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

In case a project is revoked, section 8 provides for various mechanisms in which the project can be completed. However, in such a scenario, the association of allottees shall have the first right of refusal for carrying out the remaining development works.

Section 31 of the Act provides for filing of complaint by an aggrieved with the Regulatory Authority. The form and manner and the fees payable for filing the complaint are to be specified by Rules to be made by the appropriate Government.

Section 29 provides that the Authority should endeavour to dispose of the questions / complaints as expeditiously as possible but not later than sixty days from the date of filing the same. However, where it could not be disposed of during the said period the Authority is required to record its reasons for the same.

The laws of the country do not permit forum shopping, thus, an aggrieved can only approach one of the two for disputes over the same matter.