Interim RERA: A Saviour For Distressed Homebuyers

It has already been a year since the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016, came into existence. However, only three states have a permanent regulator in the functional stage. In the meantime, interim regulators are helping homebuyers.

Here’s how interim RERAs are catering to the woes of homebuyers.

Haryana RERA

Recently, the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (H-RERA) directed developer Earth Infrastructure Limited to submit the list of all 538 allottees along with their contact details so that they can be contacted to inquire the status of possession of flats. The authority further issued restraining orders on the builders for not alienating the rights of the property till the matter is decided. The matter came to Haryana RERA when an association of the allottees said there was no progress in the construction and hence, they had decided to explore the option of transferring the obligation of completing the project to the association, as per section 8 of the RERA Act.

Earlier, acting tough against real state firm Blackberry Realcon Pvt Ltd, the Haryana RERA imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh for its failure to register one of the ongoing projects. In fact, so far an amount of Rs 1,170 crore has been recovered from defaulting developers by Haryana RERA.

Uttar Pradesh RERA

Residents welfare association of Antriksh Sanskriti Welfare Association (ASWA) has registered a complaint against a builder who allegedly hoodwinked the gullible flat buyers here. The association has claimed that the buyers had booked the flats in the year 2010 and are waiting to get their flats for the last eight years.

Since the UP RERA is functional out of Lucknow for the last four months now, the tribunal might set up a Noida bench for addressing cases pertaining to Noida projects.

Karnataka RERA

While the appellate authority is not yet formed in Karnataka, the regulator has issued a notice saying that RERA approved project registration number is required since few builders are marketing against application acknowledgement number which is invalid and false.

Also, as many as 542 ongoing real estate projects are facing uncertainty as the Karnataka RERA is issuing a notification prohibiting projects with provisional approval from doing business. The notification, which came into effect on April 1, 2018, mandates that builders get permanent approval before advertising projects, entering into agreement with customers and accepting advance money from them. The authority has started issuing permanent registration numbers to approved projects.

Tamil Nadu RERA

Earlier this month, the Tamil Nadu RERA directed that housing projects which do not come under the ambit of RERA (such as projects proposed in an area of less than 500 square metre or a number of apartments under eight) must mention it in the advertisements. This will prevent homebuyers to fall for dubious developers. So far, around 200 projects have been registered with the TN RERA.

Gujarat RERA

While Gujarat does not have a permanent regulator, the authority has witnessed registration of 2,530 real estate projects and 531 agents under RERA in the first year of its implementation. With registration of 1,215 real estate projects, Ahmedabad alone accounts for almost half of the total projects registered so far, followed by Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.

Bihar RERA

Bihar RERA has issued show-cause notices to 15 developers for advertising and marketing their projects without getting them registered with the RERA. The newly set regulator has also reiterated that non-registration of the projects with RERA, may now invite imprisonment of up to three years while as per the law enacted by the state, violators can also be fined 10 per cent of the estimated cost of the real estate project

The other side

However, the fact that most States are yet to start implementing RERA for want of Authorities, Appellate Tribunal and web-portal, which is not a very happy state of affairs for the home buyers of the country, the regulators have been empowered under the Act to take immediate action, but have been found wanting.