Pre Launch Projects in Andheri East: How They Work, Risks and RERA Rules
Dasadia Editorial Team · Updated October 2026
A WhatsApp forward lands on a weekday evening. It offers a pre-launch tower near Marol, 2 BHKs at an early bird rate, and a token amount to block a flat by Sunday. There’s no MahaRERA number anywhere on it.
That is how many pre launch projects in Andheri East reach buyers, and it is the stage RERA was written to stop. Under Section 3 of the Act, a developer can’t advertise, market, book or sell flats in a project that needs registration until MahaRERA has registered it. Our explainer on what RERA is and why it matters covers the Act itself.
Here’s how the pitch works, and where it goes wrong.
Key takeaways
- RERA Section 3 bars advertising, booking or selling flats in a project that needs registration before MahaRERA registers it.
- Registration applies to projects on plots over 500 sq m or with more than eight apartments.
- Once registered, a developer can't take more than 10% of the price before a registered agreement for sale (Section 13).
- MahaRERA fined 628 projects a total of Rs 88.90 lakh for ads without a registration number or QR code, 312 of them in the MMR (July 2024).
What is a pre-launch project in Andheri East?
A pre-launch project is one being sold before it has a MahaRERA registration number. Developers call it a soft launch, an expression of interest (EOI) or a priority list. You pay a token to lock a unit and a price ahead of the official launch, usually on the promise of a lower rate.
In Andheri East, the pitch usually comes from redevelopment. An old society along Andheri-Kurla Road, in Marol or near Chakala signs up a developer, and the new tower needs municipal approvals before it can be registered. In Mumbai that means the BMC’s Intimation of Disapproval (IOD), a conditional approval of the plans, followed by a commencement certificate that lets work begin. Developers want early cash and a read on demand while those papers are pending, so the WhatsApp forwards start. The catch is the threshold. A project needs registration if the plot is over 500 sq m or it has more than eight apartments, which covers almost every redevelopment tower in the suburb.
What are the risks of booking a pre-launch flat?
The table’s first row is the one that hurts most. Once a project is registered, RERA requires the developer to keep 70% of buyers’ money in a separate account and use it only for that project. A pre-launch token comes before any of that. If things go wrong, you have no registered agreement, no protected account and no MahaRERA project page to point to.
The appeal isn’t hard to understand. Early buyers get first pick of floors and views, and a developer short of cash may price the first few flats keenly. None of that needs a pre-launch, though. A registered project can offer the same early bird pricing with every buyer protection in place.
Our view is plain: don’t pay a rupee before the registration number exists.
Source: Lloyd Law College, RERA Act details • MahaRERA
RERA rules that apply to pre-launch offers
Section 3 is the core rule, and Section 59 sets the penalty for breaking it. A developer who skips registration can be fined up to 10% of the project’s estimated cost, and continuing to violate the order can bring a further fine or imprisonment of up to three years.
MahaRERA has used these powers for years. In 2019 it fined Wisteria Real Vision Rs 80,000 for social media ads with no registration reference, and Mystica India Rs 40,000 for bulk SMS sent before registration. Since August 2023 every project ad must carry the registration number and a QR code that opens the MahaRERA page. Its April 2025 guidelines go further and place the QR code in the top right corner, with up to Rs 50,000 in penalties and 10 days to fix a lapse.
We read the MahaRERA actions reported between 2019 and 2025, and the regulator keeps going after the advertising, which is the part a buyer can see. That gives you a quick test. An ad without a registration number and QR code is either a breach or a project too small to need registration, and very little new supply in Andheri East is that small.
Launch offers after registration are a different matter. A registered project can run an early bird price, but Section 13 still caps what it can collect at 10% before a registered agreement for sale.
How to check a pre-launch offer before you pay
Search the project and the developer on the MahaRERA portal, or scan the QR code if the ad has one. Our step-by-step guide to checking a MahaRERA registration number shows what each tab means. If the project is registered, it’s a launch rather than a pre-launch, and the registered plans, completion date and promoter details are there to read.
We’d also ask the sales team for the IOD and the commencement certificate. A developer close to registration can usually show both. Then compare the offer with registered launches nearby, using our list of new residential projects in Andheri East.
Bottom line: the early bird discount is real only if the project is. Wait for the registration number, book inside the 10% cap and put everything in a registered agreement.
Frequently asked questions
Not for projects that need registration. RERA Section 3 bars developers from advertising, booking or selling flats before MahaRERA registers the project. Projects on plots over 500 sq m or with more than eight apartments must register first.
An expression of interest is a token payment to reserve a flat or a place in the queue before a project officially launches. Before MahaRERA registration, an EOI gives you none of the protections a registered agreement for sale provides.
That depends on what the developer put in writing. Without a registration number or a registered agreement, there is no protected project account behind your money, so recovery can be slow. Ask for refund terms on paper before paying anything.
Section 13 of the RERA Act limits the advance or application fee to 10% of the flat’s cost until a written agreement for sale is signed and registered. Anything above that before the agreement breaks the rule.
Under Section 59, a developer can be fined up to 10% of the project’s estimated cost. If the violation continues, the penalty can rise by a further 10% or include imprisonment of up to three years.
Look for the MahaRERA number and QR code on the ad, which have been mandatory since August 2023. Then search the project on the MahaRERA portal. No listing means it is not registered.
Sometimes, but the discount comes with risks that a registered launch does not carry. Plans, price and timelines can all change before registration, so compare the offer with registered launch prices in the same pocket first.
Any project on land over 500 sq m or with more than eight apartments, including redevelopment towers. Projects that have received an occupancy certificate can advertise without the RERA reference, according to MahaRERA.
Fact check
- RERA Section 59 allows a penalty of up to 10% of a project's estimated cost for failing to register (Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016).
- MahaRERA penalised 628 projects a total of Rs 88.90 lakh for missing QR codes and registration numbers, 312 of them in the MMR (Storyboard18, July 2024).
- MahaRERA's April 2025 guidelines allow penalties of up to Rs 50,000 for ads without a QR code and registration number (The Realty Today, April 2025).
- In 2019 MahaRERA fined Wisteria Real Vision Rs 80,000 for social media ads that carried no registration reference (Free Press Journal, November 2019).
This article explains RERA rules on pre-launch selling as they stood in October 2026 and is not legal advice. Penalty figures come from MahaRERA orders reported in the press. Before paying any token, check the project on the MahaRERA portal and have a lawyer review what you are asked to sign.
Prefer a project that's already registered?
Explore 153 East by Dasadia Developers LLP, a freehold residential address in J.B. Nagar, Andheri East, with its MahaRERA registration number on every brochure. Ask for the brochure with floor plans and amenities, or book a site visit and check the project page before you decide.
MahaRERA registration no. PR1180002502968, verifiable on the MahaRERA portal. Compare it with other options in our guide to the best residential projects in Andheri East.
