RERA In Action: Penalties Hiked, Notices Slapped

Homebuyers have restored their faith, to a certain extent, in the Indian real estate sector only after the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in India framed stringent operational framework and a code of conduct by which every developer will need to abide. Recently, state authorities have passed verdicts that have encouraged homebuyers to pursue their property-purchase dreams.

Let us see what is happening across states: 

Gurgaon authorities slap notices, delay website

In Gurgaon, of the 600 projects that applied for registration till October, only 345 have been registered while notices have been slapped on 140 others for violations. These were cases where the developers had either not applied for registration under the RERA or developers had sent across incomplete details or in a wrong format.

Also, the Haryana chief minister failed to meet his promise on making live the online portal of the state RERA. The October-end deadline has been now been pushed by another month. As of now, senior government officials are in the process of interviewing applicants for the various posts in the RERA.

Goa relaxes cut-offs

The Goa government has relaxed the cut offs for registration with the RERA in the absence of an online portal and delay in notifying the rules. Applications for registration would be accepted from developers till December, 31.

Late registration penalty hiked

According to an order by the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA), developers who fail to register their projects with the authority will have to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh or amount equivalent to the registration fee of the project. Those who submit applications after September 1 and before September 30 will need to pay a penalty of Rs 2 lakh per application or an amount equivalent to the registration fee of the project, whichever is more, capped at Rs 10 lakh.

Those applications that were received after the initial deadline of July 31, that is on August 1 and 2, were fined Rs 50,000. This shows that for defaulting developers, the going is getting tougher.  Find the notification here.

Also, in a first, the Maharashtra authority directed a developer to return over Rs 26 lakh to a buyer after it failed to hand over the unit even though the possession was slated in 2012-13. The complainant, a home buyer from Khar had filed his grievance and the developer was directed to refund Rs 26.15 lakh to the home buyer. In another case, a fine of Rs 1.20 lakh was slapped on a broker who had advertised unregistered projects for sale. The law forbids any seller or broker to advertise any project for sale that is yet to be registered.

Also, Maharashtra, which was credited with its timely implementation of the RERA in a transparent way, may not be doing as well as you may have thought. While over 13,000 ongoing projects were brought under the RERA, only 1,241 new projects were registered so far across the state. Delay in projects by over five years has been reported in 10 per cent of these projects.

Rajasthan goes the hard way

After the launch of the RERA website in the state in June, developers were asked to register their projects within 90 days. Obviously, there have been defaults, and the Rajasthan RERA has decided to go the hard way. The authority has announced that a penalty of two per cent of the project cost or 10 times the registration fee must be deposited by developers in case their projects are not registered. After September 30, the penalty would be raised to 10 per cent of the project cost and registration fee.

Karnataka sends notices, BDA BBMP now under KRERA

Sooner than later, developers will need to understand that there's no taking the law lightly. Karnataka RERA Chairman Kapil Mohan was quoted by media as saying: “We are getting harsh on property developers who are yet to register on our portal. Nearly 100 of the 130 properties we have identified as defaulting ones presently are in Bengaluru.”

In Karnataka, the Bangalore Development Authority, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority and the Karnataka Housing Board will now have to register their projects under the Karnataka Real Estate Regulation Authority (KRERA).

Reiterating rules

 Here is a look

• In a recent case, where developers in Maharashtra opposed provisions of the RERA Act calling it retroactive, the amicus curiae in the Bombay High Court pointed out that in the event of promoter not completing an ongoing project, the Act gave the authority the powers to appoint a contractor and ask the promoter to pay the contractor to complete the project.

• Addressing a seminar of chartered accountants and builders organised by local chapter of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in Indore, RERA Chairman Anthony De Sa said that property buyers can approach the police against errant developers because RERA's aim to promote the sector and not punish the people.

Recent verdict

Three years after cancellation of their unit in Nirmal Lifestyle Kalyan Pvt, two homebuyers have been refunded their money, thanks to the RERA. These homebuyers had to cancel their unit due to financial constraints but the developer had initially refunded only part of the payment. Three years down the line, the entire refund had been directed by the RERA.