Real estate software: RERA disclosures, bookings and the customer app

The problem developers describe

A residential project with 300 units may have an inventory sheet with sales, a booking register with accounts, construction progress with the site engineer, and RERA filings with a consultant. When a buyer calls to ask how much is due and when possession will happen, three people look in three places.

Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, and your state's rules, this is also a compliance risk. Your disclosures on the state RERA portal, your advertisements and your agreements for sale have to agree with each other and with reality.

What a working system includes

A developer system that works usually has four parts:

1. Inventory and pricing. Every unit, its carpet area, price, status and holds.
2. Bookings and agreements. From enquiry and site visit to booking, allotment and agreement for sale.
3. Collections. Demand letters linked to construction stages, receipts, TDS, GST and reminders.
4. Buyer communication. A customer app or portal with documents, payments, progress photos and service requests.

RERA reporting draws on all four.

Where RERA touches the software

The Act and state rules set obligations that your system should help you meet.

• Carpet area. Sale price must be based on carpet area as defined in the Act. Your inventory should store carpet area as the main measure, with any other areas shown separately and clearly.
• Registration number. Every advertisement and listing must carry the project's RERA registration number. Store it with the project and pull it into brochures, landing pages and WhatsApp messages automatically.
• Advance limits. A developer cannot take more than 10 percent of the cost as advance or application fee before a registered agreement for sale. Your booking flow should warn when a receipt would cross that limit without an agreement on record.
• Separate account. A share of buyer money, 70 percent under the Act, must go to a separate project account and be used for land and construction cost of that project. Collections should be tagged by project so the split and withdrawals are traceable.
• Periodic updates. The RERA Act requires quarterly updates on the state RERA portal, covering bookings, construction status and approvals. Generate them from your own data each quarter.

States differ in formats and deadlines. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and others each run their own portal, so build the reports to match the states you operate in.

Bookings and collections

This is where most of the day to day value sits.

• Inventory holds. Let sales hold a unit for a set time while a buyer arranges the booking amount, with automatic release. Double booked units cause more anger than almost anything else.
• Payment plans. Construction linked, time linked or a mix. Store the plan per unit, since negotiated plans vary.
• Demand letters. When the site engineer marks a slab or stage complete, with photos, the system raises demand letters for every unit on that plan, with GST at the applicable rate and due dates.
• TDS. Buyers of property worth INR 50 lakh or more deduct 1 percent TDS (section 194-IA of the 1961 Act, carried into the Income Tax Act 2025 from April 2026). Track the TDS certificate per receipt so ledgers reconcile.
• Home loans. Many payments come from banks in tranches. Track the loan sanction and the bank's disbursal against each demand.
• Accounting. Push receipts and invoices to Tally, SAP Business One or your ERP, so finance does not retype them.

Channel partners and commissions

Brokers and channel partners bring a large share of bookings for many developers, and disputes over who brought which buyer are common. Record every lead with its source and date at first contact, including walk ins at the site office. Give channel partners a limited login to register leads and see the status of their own bookings and commissions, nothing more. Tie commission release to the booking reaching a stage you define, such as a registered agreement, so payouts follow a clear rule.

The buyer app

A buyer app reduces calls only if it answers the questions buyers ask. In our experience those are, roughly in order: how much do I owe, what have I paid, when is possession, how is construction going, and where are my documents.

Include:

• Payment schedule, receipts and an outstanding balance, with UPI or net banking payment links
• Downloadable allotment letter, agreement, demand letters and receipts
• Construction updates with dated photos per tower, ideally the same photos that triggered the demand
• A request system for changes, documentation and, after possession, maintenance complaints
• Messages in English and the local language, and WhatsApp alerts for new demands and updates

Buyer names, contact details, PAN and Aadhaar copies are personal data under the DPDP Act 2023. Restrict access to them by role, and do not share them with channel partners beyond what each deal needs.

Timeline and choices

For a developer with two to five live projects, a first release covering inventory, bookings, collections and a buyer app usually takes six to ten weeks. Migrating existing bookings and payment histories is often the slowest part, because old data needs checking against bank statements.

Real estate CRM products exist and work well for pre sales. A custom or configured system is worth it when you need collections, construction progress, RERA reports and accounting joined up in one place for your own way of selling.