Thousands of homebuyers have been left in the lurch as they wait for compensation from defaulting builders for several months and revenue officials dither on recovery.

Demand for dedicated Karnataka-Rera secretary grows as compensation cases pile up

Thousands of homebuyers have been left in the lurch as they wait for compensation from defaulting builders for several months and revenue officials dither on recovery.

Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-Rera) listed 120 apartment projects whose promoters have failed to deliver flats within the agreed date. It asked deputy commissioners of respective districts to recover a cumulative amount of Rs 238 crore from builders and pay consumers. However, only around Rs 6.8 crore has been recovered since April and only 14 out of 5,800 consumers were fortunate enough to receive compensation.

The sorry state of affairs is being attributed to the absence of a dedicated secretary to K-Rera among other reasons.

The government had posted K Nagendra Prasad as K-Rera secretary in April after transferring KS Latha Kumari. But this is a concurrent charge given to Nagendra Prasad, who is director of the horticulture department. According to officials, enforcement of Rera rules is taking a hit because of this. “K-Rera needs a full-time secretary considering the workload and the nature of service that entitles protection of consumer interest. We have written to the government to post a dedicated secretary and response is awaited,” said K-Rera chairman HC Kishore Chandra.

“We have made some internal arrangements to ensure routine works are not hampered. While regulation issues demand dedicated attention, we are managing it with some extra working hours,” said Nagendra Prasad.

Monitoring apartment projects to see whether developers are complying with the rules and ensuring defaulters pay compensation to homebuyers demands regular field work and perpetual interaction with revenue officials. The stakeholders, including civil society organisations, argue that Rera rules cannot be effectively implemented without the presence of a full-time secretary at the real estate watchdog.

According to Rera rules, a developer who fails to deliver a flat within the deadline declared in the agreement of sale has to pay compensation — the amount decided by K-Rera adjudicating officer, and 8.5% interest on the amount paid by the customer for the delayed period. The recovery from developers is done by the revenue department and it can even attach the property in question following orders of the adjudicating officer.

In Bengaluru Urban district alone, about 600 recovery cases are pending. “A long process is involved in recovering compensation money from defaulting developers and it takes more time if it is a case for attachment. We are at it,” said Bengaluru Urban DC J Manjunath.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/demand-for-dedicated-k-rera-secretary-grows-as-compensation-cases-pile-up/articleshow/88232086.cms

The Karnataka government has told the Supreme Court that it has already adopted the model model-builder and agent-buyer agreements prescribed by the Central government to all states.

Realty agreements prescribed by Centre under RERA adopted, Karnataka tells Supreme Court

The Karnataka government has told the Supreme Court that it has already adopted the model model-builder and agent-buyer agreements prescribed by the Central government to all states. It said the Karnataka Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (Agreement for Sale) Rules, 2020 were notified on June 12, 2020.

Responding to the top court’s notice, the state government claimed the contention that none of the states had framed model agent-buyer agreement was incorrect and contrary to facts.

It asked the top court to dismiss a PIL filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay in this regard for not being maintainable, either in law or facts.

The petitioner had sought a direction for framing the “model-builder agreement” and agent-buyer agreement in the real estate sector to infuse transparency and fairness, restraining builders and agents from indulging in unfair and restrictive trade practices.

The government said it issued circulars on October 30, 2021, and November 12, 2021, issuing directions to all deputy commissioners to comply with the orders passed by the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority within the prescribed period.

Earlier, the Centre said a robust regulatory mechanism and draft ‘agreement for sale’ already existed under provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, to balance the rights and interest of homebuyers and promoters in an accountable and transparent manner.

The Centre further said it had shared the draft ‘agreement for sale’ in 2016, after the enactment of the RERA, with all states and Union Territories. “Currently, all States and UTs have notified rules under RERA except Nagaland with which the answering respondent is in discussion,” it said.

The Centre said it has discharged the duty by formulation of the act and delegating the rulemaking upon the states for better implementation of the provisions of RERA.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/state/top-karnataka-stories/realty-agreements-prescribed-by-centre-under-rera-adopted-karnataka-tells-supreme-court-1057946.html

Four and a half years since RERA Act came into force, Maharashtra continues to lead the country in terms of projects registered.

RERA has brought discipline to real estate sector but needs more teeth, say experts

Four and a half years since Real Estate Regulatory and Development Act came into force, Maharashtra continues to lead the country in terms of projects registered. Experts, though, say that the Act, which has brought about discipline into the real estate sector, needs more teeth and manpower to plug its loopholes.

Analysis by Anarock — a real estate consultancy firm – showed that across the country, 71,307 projects have been registered with the regulator. Maharashtra has reported the highest registration with 31,664 projects, followed by Gujarat (9,272) and Karnataka (4,497), respectively.

In terms of grievance redressal of homebuyers, as many as 78,903 cases have been disposed so far by various state and Union Territory (UT) regulatory authorities. Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have disposed the highest number of cases, accounting for an approximately 61% share of total disposed cases. “UP saw 30,990 cases disposed, and Haryana nearly 16,864 cases, as per the latest progress report released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,” the report read.

All states, except Nagaland, the report said, notified rules under Rera act; the northeastern state is in the process of doing so.

As many as 30 states and UTs have set up their Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) of which Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and West Bengal have notified their rules but are yet to establish their authorities. Besides, 28 states have set up Appellate Tribunals with Arunachal Pradesh, J&K, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and West Bengal under the process of establishing the same.

On the loopholes in the law, Prakash Thakur, head of research team of Anarock, said manpower shortage is one of the major concerns for the authority. The Act specifies regular updating of sales report and project reports but that rarely happens, he said. Also, the authority does not have an efficient way to check the documents, which are uploaded on the website by the realtors, he added. Thakur said the mere regulatory nature of the authority does leave a gap in implementation of the orders of the RERA.

Both Thakur and Anuj Puri,chairman of Anarock Group, were quick to point out that the judiciary has stepped in to plug some of the loopholes that have been felt in the act. Recently, the Supreme Court upheld the jurisdiction of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 on all realty projects that were ongoing and had not received completion certificates until the law came into effect. This means that states that had diluted the provisions and did not include several under-construction projects under RERA’s ambit are now expected to do so.

As a result, we may see increased number of residential projects being completed in times to come,” said Puri. “Many developers with under-construction projects outside RERA had focused their resources on projects that did come under its ambit. This is no longer an option. The number of heavily delayed and even stalled units is likely to reduce. As per Anarock data, as of July 2021, nearly 6.29 lakh housing units launched in 2014 or before were incomplete or stalled across the top seven cities,” he added.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/rera-has-brought-discipline-to-real-estate-sector-but-needs-more-teeth-say-experts-7648221/

The Delhi Real Estate Appellate Tribunal has initiated suo moto proceedings for ensuring strict compliance of the provisions of the RERA Act 2016 regarding prior registration of the projects.

Delhi Real Estate Appellate Tribunal Initiates Suo Moto Proceedings To Ensure Strict Compliance Of Registration Of Projects, Curb Cheating Of Buyers

The Delhi Real Estate Appellate Tribunal has initiated suo moto proceedings for ensuring strict compliance of the provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 regarding prior registration of projects and also to curb incidents of developers cheating innocent buyers.

The proceedings were initiated yesterday by a coram comprising of Chairperson Justice Chander Shekhar and members Sheo Pratap Singh and Lorren Bamniyal.

The bench issued notice to Commissioners of all the Municipal Zones, Vice Chairman of the Delhi Development Authority, Chairperson of NDMC and the Commissioner of Police.

The development came after the Tribunal was apprised that there was a rampant non-compliance of the provisions of the RERA Act wherein large number of projects were not following the mandatory provision for prior registration of project.

For the said purpose, the Tribunal referred to Section 3 of the Act which talks about prior registration of real estate project with Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

The Tribunal also noted that the Registry had addressed couple of communications to the Commissioner of Police seeking details of the FIRs registered in respect of societies or individuals offering membership of housing projects and fraudulently collecting huge amounts of money from the gullible buyers in the city.

However, the Tribunal noted that the details were not received till date despite lapse of a considerable period of time and reminder.

Source: https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/delhi-real-estate-appellate-tribunal-suo-moto-project-registration-cheating-buyers-185778

A delay in the formation of a regulatory authority has affected the launch of real estate projects in Bengal.

Delay in RERA formation hits Bengal housing

A delay in the formation of a regulatory authority has affected the launch of real estate projects in Bengal. Developers have lost out on new business opportunities while aggrieved home buyers were left in the lurch because of the delay.

Six months have passed since May 4 when the Supreme Court had struck down a Bengal specific act to govern real estate activities in the state as ‘unconstitutional’, prompting the Mamata Banerjee-government to come up with new rules following the central model act.

The housing department had notified rules on July 26, which laid down the legal framework for setting up the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. However, it is yet to become functional for the want of a chairman and members.

More than 100 projects are yet to see the light of the day for want of registration by RERA, which is a must before builders can solicit buyers for new projects. Likewise, several hundred complaints filed by harassed homebuyers are also awaiting adjudication of the authority.

The vacuum in the regulatory authority comes at a time the Mamata Banerjee government announced a relief in the rate of stamp duty and the circle rate to stimulate demand in the real estate sector and encourage buyers.

In the absence of the authority, neither are the developers able to launch projects and take advantage of the buoyancy in the market nor are buyers getting enough projects to choose from.

“It is a fact that project launches are getting delayed as the authority has not been formed. We hope it is done soon,” Nandu Belani, president of Credai, Bengal, said.

The formation of the regulatory authority involves a well laid-down search process. The chairperson and other members of the authority are to be appointed by the state government on the recommendations of a selection committee consisting of the chief justice of the high court or his nominee, the housing secretary and the law secretary or their nominees.

Sources said the selection committee has been formed even though a change of secretary in the housing department may have slowed down the process, apart from the puja holidays.

The selection committee would be required to recommend candidates which the government is bound to pick from to fill up the post of chairperson.

Some of the developers, however, are not willing to wait for the formation of the authority and registration before launch to avoid cost overrun. Sushil Mohta, president of Credai West Bengal and owner of Merlin Group, said he has advised members to go ahead without registration, if required.

“Our project is fully compliant with the rules framed under the West Bengal Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Rules, 2021. Once the authority is formed, we will take registration,” Mohta said when asked about a new Merlin project.

Not all developers are confident though. One of them pointed out there is no legal provision to register ongoing projects in the rule promulgated in July. “Some of us may not want to expose our projects to legal challenges and put buyers into jeopardy,” said a city-based developer who did not wish to be named.

Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/delay-in-rera-formation-hits-bengal-housing/cid/1838319

The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Rajasthan, has disposed of almost 89.83% of the complaints received by the customer this year.

Rajasthan RERA disposed of 90% complaints from home-buyers this year

The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Rajasthan, has disposed of almost 89.83 % of the complaints received by the customers this year.

This state is at the third position in the country to resolve the problems of the home-buyers. An official said, “The Rajasthan RERA received 1,484 complaints till Diwali, which were redressed by the authority.”

After the enactment and implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, over 1,750 projects have been registered under RERA across the state. An official said, “For consumer protection, the regulatory body has made quarterly reports online and transparency in the system is ensured. The prospective buyer can take a comparative decision on buying a property after analysing the quarterly report of projects.”

“After the system was introduced, many people got aware and complained if there was an irregularity. RERA duly heard the complaint and redressed it on time,” the official added.

As per the mandatory provision, the promoter has to upload updates on the RERA website for the project at the end of each quarter on apartments/flats, status updates of each building, floor, internal infrastructure, and common areas construction. Other details, including information on approvals, bank account details, revision in plans, licence issues, permits or approvals for the projects also have to be displayed in a public forum.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/state-rera-disposed-of-90-complaints-from-home-buyers-this-year/articleshow/87573457.cms

The state's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP-RERA) has disposed of almost 80% of the 38,569 complaints received.

UP Rera has in four years disposed of almost 80% of the 38,569 complaints received

Of the total complaints filed with different state real estate regulators, almost 40% are from UP. And amongst the UP complaints, more than half are from Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.

The state’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP-RERA) has stepped in to address the situation. In four years, it has disposed of almost 80% of the 38,569 complaints received.

“RERA has brought back confidence in the real estate sector and homebuyers now know the project will get completed,” said Balvinder Kumar, member, UP-RERA. “Builders are also increasingly becoming disciplined knowing they are being watched.”

According to the authority, about ₹150 crore has been recovered against about 1,000 recovery certificates and transferred to the accounts of homebuyers.

Promoters and homebuyers have reached settlements in respect of recovery certificates amounting to about ₹300 crore, suggesting almost 33% of the demand in these recovery certificates has been settled, according to the authority.

There are 2,959 projects registered with UP-RERA, out of which 1,125 projects, or about 38%, have been completed.

The regulator has also registered 126 projects from outside planning areas under its special orders to protect the interests of consumers.

Promoters have been penalised for not registering projects or updating status.

Amit Modi, director at ABA Corp and president (elect) of industry association Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai) Western UP, says experienced realtors have greatly benefited from the authority’s moves.

“RERA has also ensured that the funds allocated for the project are only utilised in project development, and the chances of delayed deliveries are kept in check and get significantly reduced,” he said.

“The push and motivation that it (UP-RERA) has provided to developers to complete their projects on time and provide quality work have provided an unsurmountable economic boost to this sector,” said Sanjay Sharma, director at SKA Group.

The authority had a special focus on stuck projects and in many cases it brought developers and homebuyers on a common platform and helped resume construction.

According to Credai, around 190,000 units amounting to a valuation of ₹1 lakh crore are stuck in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.

“In some cases, the project is viable but is stalled because homebuyers were not confident of paying the balance amount to the builder. In such cases, we decided to monitor the project and have successfully resumed work on many projects,” Kumar of UP-RERA said.

During the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, the authority gave extension to builders to complete the projects. After the second wave, RERA identified 115 projects that will be given a nine-month extension, with the regulator monitoring the construction activity.

UP-RERA has also completed digitisation of various processes and set up e-courts. About 12,918 complaints have been registered through e-courts. Awareness in tier 2,3 cities and execution of its order is still a major challenge for RERA. And recovery has proved cumbersome. Of the close to 4,200 recovery certificates issued by the authority in four years, only 870 (20%) have been executed, where the penalty amount was recovered.

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/property-/-cstruction/up-rera-has-in-four-years-disposed-of-almost-80-of-the-38569-complaints-received/articleshow/87335515.cms

RERA warns of action as 373 apartment projects unfinished

Karnataka-RERA warns of action as 373 apartment projects unfinished after deadline ends

Although the deadline was extended, real estate developers have completed a mere 51 of the 424 apartment projects, leaving thousands of homebuyers in the lurch, and prompting a stern reaction from Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA).

However, while K-RERA plans to act against defaulting developers, realtors say hurdles caused by the pandemic was the reason for projects lying incomplete and want deadlines pushed back by another six months.

K-RERA had extended the deadline for apartment projects that were supposed to be completed in April or later to September 30 as a relief measure to bolster the sector which was badly affected by the pandemic.

While data shows only a few projects have been completed within the extended deadline, KRERA officials said they will wait till the end of the month to assess the situation before cracking down on defaulting developers.

“Developers must face legal consequences if they are found to have failed to deliver flats to customers within the extended deadline. We will issue notices to them,” said HC Kishore Chandra, chairman, K-RERA.

Rules state if a builder fails to deliver a flat within the date mentioned in the sale agreement, then he must pay 9% interest on the value of the flat for the delayed period besides compensation fixed by K-RERA.

This is the third deadline extension developers were given after Covid-19 hit in March 2020. Based on the Centre’s directive, K-RERA first extended the deadline by six months from March 15, 2020 and subsequently extended it by another three months.

In all, 525 of 4,378 approved projects were unfinished within the stipulated time, while deadlines for 241 projects were extended for general reasons unrelated to Covid. While 284 applications seeking extension are still under process, the completion date has expired for 976 projects.

“This is a sorry state of affairs,” said MS Shankar, general secretary of Forum for People’s Collective Efforts. “Customers are in distress with no support forthcoming from the government. K-RERA should be proactive in enforcing rules and ensure justice for homebuyers.”

He said homebuyers must now wait longer for possession but must continue repaying home loans, while the government’s generosity is limited to developers. But developers argue that the extended deadline did not really benefit the sector since it was not uniformly applied to all projects.

“The K-RERA circular said any project that was due to be completed by April 1, 2020 gets extension up to September 30, 2020. This means the extension differs from project to project. For example, a project that was due for completion on September 29, 2020 would get an extension of only one day,” said Bhaskar Nagendrappa, president, CREDAIBengaluru, while demanding a uniform six-month extension.

But homebuyers say the extension was unwarranted as, unlike the first wave, there were no curbs on construction activity during the second Covid wave. But developers counter that saying business was severely hit because of the ferocity of infections and the higher fatality rate.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/karnataka-rera-warns-of-action-as-373-apartment-projects-unfinished-after-deadline-ends/articleshow/87221479.cms

Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority fines 3 developers Rs 4 crore for ‘illegal advertising.

H-Rera fines 3 developers Rs 4 crore for ‘illegal advertising’

Taking suo motu cognisance of ‘illegal Gurgaon: Taking suo motu cognisance of ‘illegal advertising’ of unregistered real estate projects, the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (H-Rera) has imposed a penalty of Rs 4 crore on three developers.

H-Rera chairman KK Khandelwal said the Authority imposed a penalty of Rs 2.5 crore on M3M Pvt Ltd on Wednesday for advertising boutique floors at its project in Sector 89. An additional penalty of Rs 50 lakh was imposed on the realtor for another project, Smart World Floors in Sector 61.

“Along with this, a fine of Rs 50 lakh each was also slapped on two other developers, Smart World Developers and Suposhaa Realcon, who are M3M’s partners in the Smart World project,” he added.

TOI reached out to M3M for a comment but didn’t get a response.

Khandelwal said a malicious trend of advertising real estate projects without prior registration with the authority has been observed amongst developers. “It has been found that promoters are getting unregistered projects advertised, either directly or through agents, to lure investors,” he said.

According to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, which came into force on May 1, 2017, promoters are required to register projects before advertisement, marketing or sale of any plot, apartment or building in any real estate project, the H-Rera chief said.

“The strict action of the Authority will send the right signals to erring builders and will go a long way in reposing the faith of allottees in the real estate sector. Such strict action will also act as a deterrent for the other builders who remain non-compliant towards the Act of 2016 and the directions passed by the Authority as per the provisions of the Act,” said an H-Rera official.

The H-Rera chief said these developers have been advertising their unregistered projects despite several directions. Members of the Authority, including Sameer Kumar and Vijay Kumar, took a serious view of the issue and expressed displeasure and dissatisfaction on such “unprofessional conduct” of the developers and observed that such developers should be meticulously punished for violations, Khandelwal added.

In January, H-Rera had imposed a penalty of nearly Rs 2.3 crore on three builders and ordered MCG to demolish the unauthorised structures they had built for advertising and selling projects without registering them under the Rera Act.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/h-rera-fines-3-developers-rs-4-crore-for-illegal-advertising/articleshow/87007240.cms

PM Narendra Modi emphasised that RERA Act has helped in getting the entire housing sector out of mistrust, fraud and helped & empowered all stakeholders.

RERA has brought housing sector out of fraud and mistrust: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. said that the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act has helped overcome serious problems of the urban middle class as regards home buying.

Inaugurating the Azadi@75 – New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape conference-cum-expo in Lucknow, Modi emphasised that RERA Act has helped in getting the entire housing sector out of mistrust and fraud and helped and empowered all stakeholders.

Modi also said that urban bodies are also saving about ₹1,000 crore every year by installing LED street lights. Now this amount, he informed, is being used for other development works. He added that LED has also greatly reduced the electricity bill of the people living in the city.

He also digitally handed over keys of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) houses to 75,000 beneficiaries in 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh during the event.

In addition to this, Modi laid the foundation stone of 75 Urban Development Projects of Uttar Pradesh under Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT. This event also saw flagging off of 75 buses under FAME-II for seven cities including Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Ghaziabad.

Stressing on the massive increase in the number of houses constructed under PM Awas Yojana as compared to previous numbers. Modi informed that more than 1.13 crore housing units have been constructed in the cities and, out of this, more than 50 lakh houses have already been built and handed over to the poor.

Taking a jibe at earlier governments for dragging their feet on implementing the schemes. Modi said that more than 18,000 houses were approved but not even 18 houses were constructed at that time. He said that now more than 9 lakh housing units were handed over to the urban poor and 14 lakh units are under various stages of construction.

Source: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/real-estate/rera-has-brought-housing-sector-out-of-fraud-and-mistrust-pm-modi/article36842379.ece