Sunspots or active regions with a $\delta $ -magnetic configuration are known to be associated with strong eruptions such as flares and mass ejections. This article, investigates the relationship between $\delta $ active regions (ARs) and flares over the course of three solar cycles, from 1996 to 2024, with respect to the $\delta $ AR areas, lifetimes, latitudinal distributions, and the phase of their magnetic complexity. Solar Cycle 25, while still in progress, has produced the least number of $\delta $ -active regions in comparison to the previous two solar cycles, yet the number of M- and X-class flares exceed that of Cycle 24 by 25%. Flare occurrence is higher in C-, M-, and X-class events during the presence of the $\delta $ configuration in an active region, which is seen in all three solar cycles. The total number of flares produced by $\delta $ and non- $\delta $ active regions were 15,875 and 17,033, respectively, along all three solar cycles. The latter are dominated by B- and C-class flares, while the number of M- and X-class flares along all three solar cycles was significantly less than compared to $\delta $ ARs. The median lifetime of an active region in the $\delta $ phase is about five days while it is about eight days in the non- $\delta $ phase. The typical number of flares produced by a $\delta $ active region is 20, with maximum values ranging from 80 – 156 for lifetimes between 6 – 13 days. However, about 30% of $\delta $ active regions do not produce flares when their lifetimes are between 6 – 12 days. The latitudinal distribution of $\delta $ active regions across the northern and southern hemispheres is nearly symmetric on either side of the equator for Solar Cycles 23 and 24, peaking around ${\pm}\,10^{\circ }$ – $20^{\circ }$ . For Solar Cycles 23 and 24, about 30% of the host $\delta $ active regions have an area exceeding the mean value over the above latitudinal belt while for Solar Cycle 25, there is a large scatter possibly due to the cycle still being in progress. It remains to be seen if the latter phase of Solar Cycle 25 will be as active as its earlier phase and whether the number of $\delta $ active regions emerging during that period scale with the total sunspot number.
