The Darker Side of RERA Karnataka !!

Author: Riya Kapoor

Highlights

Karnataka notified RERA Rules on 10 July 2017 and launched the website on 24th July 2017. They have hardly given a weeks time for registration of projects to builders.
Only 700 projects were able to register till midnight of 31 July 2017
the penalty at the rate of 100% on the applicable registration amount on projects registered after 31st July
Imposition of penalty on builders is unjustified as they were given very less time to register

RERA was first introduced in August 2013 by UPA Government and it was passed in India on 01 May 2016. After RERA act formation, the state government was given 1 year time to frame their own rules and start registrations for agents and builders. RERA was fully implemented from 1st May 2017.

As per Section 3 the central act, ongoing projects were required to register by 31st July 2017 i.e. within 90 days of implementation of RERA in India. Only Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh started registration well on time. Karnataka passed through various hurdles for framing of RERA Policies. As far as the state of Karnataka is concerned, it notified RERA Rules on 10 July 2017 and launched the website on 24th July 2017. They have hardly given a week’s time for registration of projects to builders.

Some of the states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan have been given 90 days window to register projects without penalty but Karnataka opened just for 7 days. Only 700 projects were able to register till midnight of 31 July 2017 after struggling with the technical glitches of RERA Karnataka website (www.rera.karnataka.gov.in). There was confusion among the builders regarding the registration after 31 July 2017 as there was no intimation from RERA Karnataka.

As of now, only 12 projects have been approved by the authority out of around 1700 applications. RERA Karnataka didn’t issue any notice or any circular regarding the imposition of penalty on registration post 31^st July. On 31^st August 2017, RERA Karnataka has issued penalty notices to builders registered after 31 July 2017. The notice states that Promoter who files the application for registration after 31^st July shall be penalized by imposing the penalty at the rate of 100% on the applicable registration amount. The Builders have been asked to pay penalty within 3 days of receipt of the notice if not remitted application for registration will not be taken into consideration by the government.

Imposition of penalty on builders is unjustified as they were given very less time to register themselves and there was lack of support & awareness of RERA in the state by the Government. We hope that state authorities will consider builder concerns in registering themselves and RERA will come into force in such a way that it will bring cheers to the real estate industry and its stakeholders!!