Relief For Builders In Punjab As RERA Gives Them Another Chance To Register

Homebuyers in India have yet to fully get the protection they have been promised under the provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016. Some states have yet to notify the final rules, others have yet to set up a Real Estate Regulatory Authority. Those states which have been able to do both the things are struggling to make developers register themselves with the state authority. Punjab is one such state.

After the rules were notified in Punjab in June last year, the state government made officials work even on holidays to facilitate faster project registration process. Specific counters were set to carry out the task. While urging developers to make hurry, the state also went on to issue notices to those who failed to comply. However, the desired results have yet to be achieved.

Despite repeated warnings, only about 300 projects have been registered with the state RERA, officials say - an even greater number of projects in various stages of construction across the state have yet to be registered. The authority recently issued notices to about 50 developers in the state for non-registration. Continuing the default might result in developers paying a penalty of 10 per cent of the project cost. There is also a provision of a three-year jail term in case the default continues.

At the same time, providing developers in the state another chance to become compliant, the Punjab RERA on February 18 announced to give another chance to register their projects. Real estate developers in the state had to register their ongoing projects with the authority by December 31 last year. Initially, they were required to register their projects within three months of the commencement of the Act which was July 31, 2017. The authority has now asked builders to submit applications for registration of their projects and avoid punitive action.

"The authority has decided to give one more chance to such promoters to submit their applications for registration of their projects even after extended date --December 31, 2017 -- on payment of late fees to the tune of 100 percent of the fees payable under Rule 3(4)," an official told media.

Section 4 of the state version of the Central law says that all ongoing projects which have not received completion certificate or partial completion certificate must be registered with the authority. In his application, the builder has to while providing all the details must mention the size of the apartment based on carpet area, the state law says.

With inputs from Housing News