The authority also asked DTCP to initiate an inquiry as to how such certificates have been procured fraudulently.
The development is expected to have ramifications across other states and regions too, as several developers had rushed to secure these completion and occupation certificates ahead of the commencement of RERA in a bid to escape its jurisdiction.
It has observed many such cases where part CC, or OC, has already been issued even though the development work is not yet complete, which should be the criteria for granting these approvals.
“A fraud has been committed to secure these OCs and CCs even though the projects are yet to be completed. We have issued show-cause notices to such builders and are reaching out to vigilance for an enquiry into the matter,” KK Khandelwal, chairman, Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority, told ET.
The regulator has also asked DTCP to take disciplinary action against officers with whose connivance builders have secured such clearances.
The authority has provided a month’s time to promoters of such projects to apply for registration, failing which penal proceedings will be initiated against them.
According to experts, the authority has taken cognisance of the trouble faced by homebuyers of such incomplete projects and builders procuring OC/CC without completing the projects.
“This order would have wider implications benefitting homebuyers, especially since many states have diluted their real estate rules that favour builders. Such developers will be forced to comply with the registration requirement or face penalty up to 10% of the project cost as provided under the RERA,” said Abhay Upadhyay, president of pan-India homebuyers’ body, Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE).
Upadhyay said that in many cases homebuyers face problems because they are being forced to take possession without the promised infrastructure in place. The CC, or OC, can only be granted after the completion of such development work as observed by the authority.