Orissa HC Issues Notice To State Govt & RERA On Registration Fee Hike

Cuttack: In a major relief to real estate firms and builders, the Orissa High Court has issued a restraint order on hike in project registration fee by Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA).

Hearing a petition filed by Odisha Chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI), the High Court has issued a notice to the state government and RERA.

In its notice, the High Court has directed that if the hiked registration fee is collected from the builders, it should be deposited in a special bank account accruing annual interest. The court has scheduled the next hearing after 6 weeks and told the respondents to file their replies within that period.

It may be noted that RERA had issued a notice on July 28 last year stating that the project registration fee has been increased from Rs 10 per square metre to Rs 200. The order was notified to be applicable to the projects involving construction of 8 or more than 8 apartments.

The CREDAI had moved the High Court stating that RERA did not have power to increase the registration fee on its own and sought the court’s intervention to cancel the fee hike notice.