Stakeholders are unanimous that RERA would be very good for existing projects that are nearing completion, as customers would repose faith on projects registered with RERA even as banks, too, would be more forthcoming in funding them
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act affords one more chance to the developers of delayed projects to regularize them and set a new deadline to complete and deliver them.Vini Mahajan, additional chief secretary in the department of housing and urban development of Punjab, the interim regulator under the real estate act, said that existing buyers will get respite under RERA.
Anthony De Sa, chairman of MP RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority), said that while registering existing projects with RERA, developers can set their own deadline to complete them, but that the deadline should be reasonable.
Anthony de Sa said that if a developer were to ask for four more years to complete a project launched eight years ago while now registering it with RERA, it would not be granted. While there would be no hard and fast rule in fixing a new deadline, existing conditions and the stage of implementation of a project would be considered while fixing the new timeline.
Dilbag Singh Sihag, member of Haryana's RERA committee and chief town planner of the state, said that if a developer genuinely tried to complete a project but could not owing to issues beyond his control, then RERA would take a lenient view. But, if the delay was owing to some ulterior motive, the regulator would come down heavily on the developer, Sihag said.
Anthony De Sa said that the authority would give a reasonable time to the developers of projects under construction to complete them and that a mechanism would be developed to assess this time frame.
But, once a developer gives a new deadline to complete his delayed project and is unable to do so within that period, the regulator would take a harsh view, Sihag said. In such situation, builders would either have to return the money to buyers with interest or face consequences which include even a jail term.
Several regulatory heads, already appointed, are of the view that RERA would first facilitate the completion of delayed project so that all buyers are satisfied and that the regulators would take stern action only if the developers do not exert themselves in achieving this goal.
In existing projects, the new deadline fixed by the regulator while registering them would be important and action would be taken if the developers default even on the new time frame in completing those projects.
Existing projects have to apply for registration with the respective state RERAs by July 31. The regulator would then consider each one of them and see if they are fit for registration, and the whole process might take around a month for a final decision.
“So far, 14 states and Union territories have implemented this law. There are another 14 states which are in the process of notifying the rules. We hope that they will do it soon, said Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, joint secretary of the housing ministry at a conference organized by FICCI, Grant Thornton, and Khaitan & Co.
A Union government official said that RERA should be in place by the next one month and that the transition to the new system would be smooth. He said that there would be enough time in all the states for existing projects to apply for registration by July 31. In fact, till the time they are denied registration on any ground, developers are free to advertise and market existing projects, the official said.
RERA is a god-send opportunity for developers of existing projects as, once they are registered with it, the chances of completion increase manyfold. This would increase the buyers' confidence in those projects and, therefore, registration of a project with RERA would add to its value and make it easier for a developer to market it.
Many good developers are in fact waiting for RERA to be notified in their respective states so that they may register their projects. Getamber Anand, president of Credai, said that after a project is registered with RERA, buyers would find it more dependable to invest. At the same time, banks would be more forthcoming in funding those projects.
Source: TOI 6th May 2017
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