In an effort to protect homebuyers from misleading information circulated by promoters, new penalties have been introduced for violations related to real estate advertisements across print, electronic, and social media platforms. These measures came into force on July 1. According to a circular issued on June 24, 2026, advertisers found guilty of issuing misleading real estate advertisements will be subject to penalties ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh, depending on the severity of the violation. The violations have been classified into major and minor categories. Major violations include the advertisement or promotion of real estate projects that are not registered with the regulatory authority, as well as advertisements that fail to clearly display the registration number and QR code, or present them in a manner that is illegible to prospective homebuyers. Additionally, advertisements that compare project prices with an alleged “market price” or with the prices of other projects are also considered major violations. For projects with a total cost of Rs 100 crore or more, major violations will attract a minimum penalty of Rs 5 lakh. For projects valued below Rs 100 crore, the penalty for major violations will be Rs 2 lakh. Minor violations include advertisements that display the registration number but omit the QR code or present it in an unreadable format. Advertising projects that are exempt from registration without clearly stating that they are “RERA-exempted projects” also falls under the minor violation category. For minor violations, projects costing Rs 100 crore or more will attract a minimum penalty of Rs 1 lakh, while projects below Rs 100 crore will face a penalty of Rs 50,000. The circular further states that authorities retain the power to impose higher penalties in accordance with provisions under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. Violations not explicitly classified as major or minor will be assessed and penalized on a case-by-case basis as determined from time to time.