MahaRERA ad rules for channel partners: QR code, agent number and project number

31 October 2026 · 9 min read

If you are a MahaRERA-registered agent, every ad you publish for a registered project must show four things: your own agent registration number, the project's MahaRERA registration number, the MahaRERA website address, and the project's QR code. Since Order 46C/2025 (8 April 2025), the registration number, website address and QR code also have to sit in the top-right quarter of the ad, with the number in a font at least as large as your phone number or address. Miss one and the penalty starts at ₹10,000 per ad.

This guide turns the MahaRERA orders into a simple spec for the ads channel partners actually run: Meta feed ads, reels, stories, brochures sent on WhatsApp, standees and hoardings. Every rule links to the order it comes from.

Last checked against the MahaRERA orders on 31 October 2026. This is a practical guide, not legal advice.

The four things every channel partner ad must show

Your MahaRERA agent registration number. Rule 14(2) of the Maharashtra RERA Rules, 2017, as restated in Order 46B/2023, requires a registered agent to quote their own registration number on every ad and marketing document.
The project's MahaRERA registration number. The same rule: your number and the project's number, together. The builder's number alone is not enough when the ad is yours.
The MahaRERA website address (maharera.maharashtra.gov.in), shown next to the registration number, as set out in Order 46/2023.
The project's QR code. Order 46/2023 made the QR code compulsory for builders on ads published after 1 August 2023. Order 46B/2023 (21 August 2023) applied the same duty to all registered real estate agents: the QR code goes on every project ad, beside the project registration number, and it must be clear enough to scan.

The QR code is generated for each registered project and leads to the project's details on MahaRERA. Use the code for the exact project and phase you are advertising. A QR code from phase 1 on a phase 2 ad points buyers to the wrong registration.

Where they go and how big: the 2025 layout rules (Order 46C)

Many ads met the 2023 orders in the smallest possible way: a tiny QR code in a corner, the number in light grey at the bottom. Order 46C/2025, dated 8 April 2025, closed that gap for builders and registered agents alike:

Placement: the registration number and the MahaRERA website address go in the top-right quarter of the ad.
Size: they use a font equal to or larger than the largest font used for the contact details or address on the same ad. If your phone number is big, the registration number is at least as big.
Colour: a colour that stands out against the background. Light grey on white does not.
QR code: also in the top-right quarter, kept in its proper square shape (not stretched or squeezed) and scannable.

The order covers newspapers, magazines, flyers, brochures, standees, websites, social media ads and "any other advertisement".

A simple way to build this into a design: make the top-right corner a fixed block in every template. QR code, project registration number, your agent number and the website address sit there together, sized against the largest contact line on the ad. The headline, pictures and price go everywhere else.

Which ads it covers: Instagram, Facebook, reels, brochures, WhatsApp

Meta feed ads (Facebook and Instagram)

Social media ads are named in every one of the orders. Square and 4:5 feed ads have plenty of room for the top-right block. Check the final ad in the Ads Manager preview: the QR code should still scan from a phone screen at normal size.

Reels and stories

Vertical 9:16 ads are where most compliance slips happen. Instagram and Facebook lay their own buttons and text over the top strip and the bottom of a reel. Keep the top-right block inside the top-right quarter but below the strip where the app shows its icons, and check it in every placement preview before you publish. If the QR code is not scannable at that size, the ad is not compliant, however good it looks.

For a video ad, keep the block on screen for the whole video, not only on the last frame. The orders don't spell out video timing, so this is the safe reading, not a quoted rule.

Brochures and PDFs sent on WhatsApp

None of the four orders names WhatsApp. They name brochures, flyers, social media ads and "any other advertisement where a QR code can be printed". A project brochure or creative sent on WhatsApp is still a brochure or an ad, so treat it as covered: QR code, both numbers and the website address, top-right. The same goes for WhatsApp status images and broadcast creatives.

Standees, hoardings and site branding

Standees at the site or sales office are named in Order 46/2023. Hoardings fall under "any other advertisement". Size the QR code for the distance people view it from: a code that scans on a standee at one metre will not scan on a hoarding across the road.

Project landing pages and microsites

Websites are named in the orders. If you run a landing page for a project, put the block in the top-right of the first screen on both phone and desktop, not only in the footer.

Running ads for several builder projects

Most channel partners sell more than one project at a time. The rule is simple: one ad, one project, that project's number and QR code. Your agent number stays the same on every ad.

Multi-project ads need more care. In a carousel with one project per card, give each card its own project registration number and QR code. A single "top 5 projects in Kharghar" creative with one QR code does not meet the rule for the other four. The orders don't describe carousels directly, so this is our reading; if you plan a lot of multi-project creatives, check them with a RERA advocate.

Also make sure you are allowed to advertise the project in the first place. Your arrangement with the builder decides what you can say and show; the MahaRERA rules decide what must be on the ad.

Penalties and what happens after a notice

Under Orders 46B/2023 and 46C/2025:

The penalty is ₹10,000 minimum and up to ₹50,000 per violation, under Sections 63 and/or 65 of the RERA Act.
If the ad isn't corrected within 10 days, it is treated as a continuing violation.

MahaRERA also opens cases on its own (suo motu). In one public example, Suo Motu Advertisement Case No. 119 of 2024, a registered agent's Instagram ad for a project in Parel, posted on 31 December 2023, showed neither the agent's registration number nor the QR code. The agent did not reply to the show-cause notice or appear at the hearing, and MahaRERA went ahead and passed a final order in the case. The full list of these orders is public on MahaRERA's suo motu advertisement orders page.

If you get a notice: take the ad down or fix it at once, keep a dated screenshot of the corrected version, and reply within the time given. Not replying is the one choice that always makes it worse.

A 60-second pre-publish checklist for channel partner ads

Run this on every creative before it goes live, including reels, stories and WhatsApp creatives:

Your MahaRERA agent registration number is on the ad.
The project's MahaRERA registration number is on the ad, for the right phase.
The MahaRERA website address is next to the number.
The QR code is for this exact project and phase, and it scans from a phone.
The number, website address and QR code are in the top-right quarter.
The number's font is at least as large as the largest contact detail on the ad.
The block's colour stands out from the background.
The QR code is square, not stretched, cropped or covered by app buttons.
In a carousel or multi-project creative, every project has its own number and QR code.
You have checked every placement preview (feed, reels, stories) before publishing.

Save this list next to your design files so whoever makes your creatives runs it every time.

Common mistakes on channel partner ads

Reusing the builder's creative as it is. It carries the builder's details but not your agent number, and often not in the 2025 layout.
Only the builder's registration number. If the ad is yours, your agent number has to be there too.
QR code in the bottom corner. That met the 2023 orders; since April 2025 it belongs in the top-right quarter.
Number smaller than the phone number. The size rule compares the two directly.
A QR code covered by reel buttons or cut off in stories. It is on the design file but not on the screen people actually see.
A QR code from the wrong phase or project. Easy to do when a firm sells several phases of one township.

Questions channel partners ask

Do I need my agent number if the builder's number is already on the ad?

Yes. Rule 14(2), as restated in Order 46B/2023, asks the agent to quote their own registration number along with the project's number on all ads and marketing material.

Does a WhatsApp status or broadcast count as an ad?

The orders don't mention WhatsApp by name. They cover social media ads, brochures and "any other advertisement". If the message promotes a registered project, treat it as an ad and include everything.

What if the QR code doesn't fit on a story?

Then change the layout until it does. The orders don't make exceptions for small formats; a QR code that can't be scanned doesn't meet them.

Do these rules apply to projects outside Maharashtra?

These are MahaRERA orders, so they apply to projects registered with MahaRERA. Other states' RERA authorities have their own rules.

Where do I check for new orders?

On MahaRERA's orders and circulars page. We re-check it every quarter and update this guide when anything changes.

Get the rules right, then get the results

Compliant ads are the starting line, not the goal. The goal is enquiries that turn into site visits. If you want Meta ads that follow MahaRERA's rules and are judged by site visits, not cheap leads, see how we run real estate lead generation for channel partners.