Real Estate Developers Meet In City On April 1 To Discuss RERA Issues

Bhubaneswar: Leading real estate body CREDAI Odisha on Tuesday said it will hold a
convention of developers on Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)
hurdles at a hotel here on April 1.

“Going by RERA Act, developers are liable to pay interest for delay
in handing over projects to the customers. But due to the slow registration process of
projects by Odisha RERA Authority, developers are being forced to
default,” CREDAI Odisha chairman D S Tripathy said.

“RERA Act came into force from July 1, 2017 in the state, barring the
developers to advertise or take any booking without registration of
projects. It has also stopped financing from previous
deals as financial institutions denied to further release funds on behalf of customers without registration,” Tripathy pointed out.

He informed that other states follow online process and give registration in timebound
manner, but in Odisha only few projects have got registration
in nine months. “The RERA Act is only applicable for ongoing
projects but registration process of all completed projects was
stopped in absence of completion/ occupancy certificate,” he noted.

The prime objective of RERA Act was to protect consumers’
interest pertaining to timely completion of projects or amenities
offered by developers in ongoing projects by discarding completed
projects from its ambit where everything is visible. To deal with the
situation various state governments are allowing registration by considering proof
like holding tax, electricity bills, society registration etc prior to
July 1 to make sure that project was completed prior to the Act.

“In other states, registration of projects is also being done online to
facilitate better results while in Odisha builders and developers are
subjected to avoidable delay. This has not only created a negative
impact on real estate sector, but also caused undue harassment to
developers,” he added.