RERA Telangana New Chairman | B/w 2017-19 Only 25% RERA Compliant Projects

Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA Act), 2016 came into force to bring transparency in the real estate industry like in terms of buying and selling property. It has developed confidence in buyers and boosted the real estate sector. RERA act proposes that developers share up-to-date information about project delivery time. So, the property buyers will have an estimated time of their project delivery and will beware of imposters.

Plans to Appoint Permanent Telangana RERA Chairman

Taking a step forward to ease the working of Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TS RERA) the state government is planning to appoint permanent Telangana RERA Chairman. In July 2017, more than one year after the central RERA act has been enacted, the Telangana Real Estate Regulation and Development Regulations Act came into force. Although several senior bureaucrats have been given additional responsibility from time to time, none were formally named by government orders.

For example, just three months ago, Somesh Kumar, who is posted as RERA chairperson on its website, was only made in charge of the authority. Now the post is vacant with him being promoted to the chief secretary of Telangana. Arvind Kumar, principal secretary, MAUD and K Vidyadhar, director of town and country planning’s names also appear on the "leadership" list. But they are not defined in their functions. Finally, Vidyadhar is appointed as a TSRERA secretary, but the act does not mention this.

Rajeshwar Tiwari, Special Chief Secretary for Telangana RERA, still had to be named as Permanent Telangana RERA Chairman earlier in January 2018. Then he was in the revenue department. The RERA Telangana website which came live in 2018 stated that, until the permanent authority is formed, Tiwari was appointed as a Regulatory Authority for the management of affairs under the Act. While some official’s names have been forwarded to CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao for the selection committee, he has yet to call upon them.

How Many Projects are Registered in RERA Between 2017 to 2019?

RERA-compliant disclosures show just 25% of the real estate projects in Hyderabad, Telangana are registered in RERA between 2017 to 2019. While more than 6,000 ventures have been registered in Hyderabad, over this time, only 1,550 of these have a mandatory registration number at Telangana State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TSRERA).

The Telangana RERA regulations, enacted on 31 July 2017, made registration with the State RERA Authority mandatory for all projects which were allowed to construct on or after 1 January 2017. It also included ongoing projects that did not receive an occupancy certificate or certificate of completion at the time of roll-out. But, several projects are still effective without the RERA stamp. Most frequent violations include ads and sales without a registration number, denying compensation to customers as stated in the act and employing non-RERA-certifiable marketing agents.

Confirming that RERA is still being enforced patchily across many states and territories of the Union, Satish Vadaga of Anarock said even now it offers no watertight solutions to real estate sector problems such as construction delays in most states, including Telangana. Homebuyers in many states are still waiting and suffering from slow adjudication to settle their grievances. Despite repeated deadlines for project registration, a large number of developers have yet not registered their projects with State RERA. Authority imposed Rs 3 lakhs as a penalty for developers for late property registration.

However, RERA officials are dealing with violations strictly, and when a matter is brought to their notice, the action is taken immediately. So far, 60 to 70 show-cause reports have been released on several projects, and 160 have been fined, between Rs 50,000 and Rs 3 lakhs. An official said that in one case they had levied a fine of Rs 14 lakhs, while two more Rs 25 lakhs have been penalized.

Final Words

Although the RERA Act was only enforced for two and a half years, it was too early to assess the effects. The RERA act is a savior for builders and buyers, anybody who has been correctly aware of RERA must certainly be reassured that for the extensive good the government has introduced the legislation. RERA punishes fraudulent land builders and sentences them with heavy fines while legitimate builders are legally covered by selling most of their projects.

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By: Shailaja K