Principal secretary to Housing department Kapil Mohan speaks at a workshop on Real Estate Regulation Act in Bengaluru on Monday. DH photo
The state government will not bring property projects that are almost complete or have already been launched under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act.
"Many builders are under the impression that the government may use the act to harass them and that this law would further delay completion of ongoing projects. Through RERA, we don't penalise them but want them to register and correct themselves," Kapil Mohan, Principal Secretary, Housing Department, said.
Speaking to DH on the sidelines of a workshop on RERA for more than 150 builders here on Monday, he said: "We would not touch the projects that are almost complete or have already taken off. We will touch the projects that are tremendously delayed."
He added that the act benefited investors and safeguarded their hard-earned money.
"The government wants to redress the grievances of the real estate sector by organising outreach programmes to create awareness about the act. We have already conducted 13 programmes in Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural and Ramanagaram districts. We will organise an outreach programme every week to cover all districts," Mohan added.
On the builders' perception of the act, he said: "About 80% of them favour the act. The RERA ensures that investors' money is used only for the project and is not diverted to any other purpose."
Addressing the builders, Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chairperson, Real Estate Research Initiative, said the Central government had created a template in the form of RERA but a single model could not be implemented in all the states because of federal and political reasons. The act encourages competition among states and contributes to economic growth. "The world at large views the real estate industry with suspicion. Builders should use RERA to clear this misconception," he added.
Karthik B M, Partner, Indus Law, said the act essentially applied to promoters, not the landowners. He added that certain provisions of the act were "vague".
Punishment for RERA violations
* 10% of project cost as penalty
* Three years' rigorous imprisonment
* Revocation of registration
* Freeze on bank accounts
* Replacement of builders
* Declaration of violators defaulters
* Sharing of information among all real estate regulatory authorities