Beyond Refunds: What RERA's Latest Order Signals for Property Buyers **शीर्षक (संदर्भ के लिए):** रिफंड से परे: संपत्ति खरीदारों के लिए RERA के नवीनतम आदेश के संकेत रिफंड से परे: संपत्ति खरीदारों के लिए RERA के नवीनतम आदेश के संकेत ## ਰਿਫੰਡ ਤੋਂ ਪਾਰ: RERA ਦਾ ਤਾਜ਼ਾ ਹੁਕਮ ਜਾਇਦਾਦ ਖਰੀਦਦਾਰਾਂ ਲਈ ਕੀ ਸੰਕੇਤ ਦਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ

Refunds Are One Tool. RERA Has More.

Most coverage of RERA enforcement focuses on the refund order: buyer complains, authority orders refund with interest, developer pays or faces execution. That is the most visible output of the system and the one that gets reported most often.

But refunds are one mechanism in a toolkit that has been expanding, case by case and ruling by ruling, through 2025 and 2026. The direction that toolkit is moving in matters as much as any individual order. For buyers in Mohali and the Tricity corridor, the direction is clearly toward stronger enforcement with fewer exit routes for non-compliant developers.

What Punjab RERA Has Established This Year

The Bajwa Developers order from May 27 is the most relevant recent Punjab RERA decision for the Mohali market. The authority directed Bajwa Developers Ltd and others to refund Rs 24.38 lakh to a buyer of a Sunny Enclave plot in Kharar, with interest at 10.80 percent per annum from the dates of payment. The buyer had booked in 2012. Possession never came. The developer never replied substantively to the authority across three years of hearings.

The specific language Punjab RERA used in this case is worth noting. The authority reiterated that homebuyers cannot be compelled to remain in indefinitely delayed real estate projects and are entitled to seek relief. That framing is not just about the Bajwa case. It is a statement of principle: delay does not extinguish the buyer's right to exit, and no developer can use prolonged non-delivery as a strategy for keeping buyers trapped.

Punjab RERA's highest-ever penalty of Rs 1.5 crore, imposed on Gupta Builders and Promoters for selling real estate inventory without RERA registration, set a precedent that the authority has been reinforcing through 2025 and 2026. The 2019 order marked a departure from the lower penalties that characterised RERA's early enforcement years and signalled that the authority was prepared to use the upper range of its penal powers rather than settle for token fines that developers treat as a cost of doing business.

What Courts Are Adding to the Framework

A June 2026 ruling by the Uttarakhand High Court has clarified a procedural point that has significant practical implications for buyers across RERA jurisdictions. While not binding on Punjab courts, the reasoning is persuasive and consistent with the legislative intent underlying RERA's national framework.

The ruling concerned the mandatory pre-deposit requirement that developers must meet before their RERA appeal is entertained. The developers argued that this pre-deposit requirement should be calculated only on penalties, not on refund amounts, interest, and compensation ordered by the authority. The court rejected that argument.

The court observed that the intent of the legislature was deliberate and was to fix a deterrent rate that would compensate allottees and buyers meaningfully and discourage promoter and builder defaults. If the order were allowed to stand, every promoter against whom an order is issued by RERA would at the stage of filing an appeal insist on recalculation of the pre-deposit at a lower rate, which would lower their burden even further. This would render the enforcement provision a dead letter and deprive it of certainty and enforceability.

What this means practically: a developer who wants to appeal a Punjab RERA order must deposit the full ordered amount, including refund, interest, and compensation, not just the penalty component. That changes the economics of delay. If the cost of filing an appeal requires depositing the full amount immediately, the strategy of appealing to delay payment becomes significantly less attractive.

The Registration Net Is Tightening

Punjab RERA has also been addressing a pattern some developers have used to avoid registration altogether. The Act requires registration for projects on land exceeding 500 square metres or with eight or more units. Some developers have attempted to split projects into smaller parcels, each individually below the threshold, to claim exemption.

The authority has clarified that this structuring does not work. If a project is designed, constructed, and marketed as a single project with common amenities, it must be registered as a single project under Section 3 of the RERA Act, 2016, regardless of how the land parcels are titled. The intent is clear: you cannot defeat the purpose of the Act by fragmenting ownership.

For buyers considering a property in any project in Mohali, this means the RERA registration check is not a formality. It is a due diligence step that has legal consequences if skipped. A project that is not registered and should be is a project whose developer is already in non-compliance.

What This Means for Mohali Buyers Right Now

Three threads run through the enforcement developments of mid-2026.

The refund right is being protected against indefinite delay. Punjab RERA's May 27 order confirms that no developer can rely on procedural protracted hearings to trap buyers in projects that are not delivering. The right to exit exists and the authority will enforce it.

The cost of non-compliance is rising. The pre-deposit requirement covering full amounts, the active ED probe into CLU irregularities, and the penalties precedent set since 2019 collectively mean that the financial and legal cost of ignoring RERA obligations is materially higher in 2026 than at any earlier point.

The registration net is closing. Developers who have been operating partially or fully outside the RERA framework are increasingly being caught through Section 59 notices, GMADA approvals-stop linkage, and direct authority action.

For buyers who have existing complaints, this is the most favourable enforcement environment RERA has produced since its Punjab launch in 2017. For buyers making new purchases, these developments underscore the same consistent point: registration status, financial disclosure, and developer compliance history are not secondary considerations. They are the first ones.

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Sources
- LiveLaw Biz — RERA Cases Weekly Digest, May 27-June 6, 2026 (Punjab RERA Bajwa Developers order, Uttarakhand HC pre-deposit ruling)
- RERA Punjab — Notice u/s 59 for projects not registered, June 2026
- The Tribune — Punjab RERA imposes highest-ever penalty of Rs 1.5 crore on Gupta Builders and Promoters, May 8, 2019
- Mohali Aerotropolis — Bajwa Developers refund order coverage, June 2026
- Mohali Aerotropolis — Amar Pal vs RKM Housing consumer commission order, June 2026