The Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Hrera), Gurugram, on Tuesday, in a letter written to the town and country planning department, pointed to serious shortcomings in the implementation of the affordable housing projects in the city. The authority identified several malpractices by the developers of affordable housing projects.

These included, non-availability of application forms, overcharging for such forms, appointment of brokers for their sale, assured allotment, and collection of external development charges(EDC) from buyers. It also asked the developers to follow the norms set by the government or face penal action for violating the same.

Having received complaints from buyers of affordable apartments, the authority made it clear that the price fixed by the government was inclusive of all charges, except for Goods and Services TAX(GST) and other applicable central taxes.

The authority also directed the developers to sell the application forms for Rs1,000 each as per norms and asked the town and country planning department to ensure that these forms are easily available.

This gesture from the authority assumes significance, given the fact that 50,000 residential units have been launched in the city under the affordable housing scheme.

KK Khandelwal, chairman, Hrera, Gurugram, while addressing a press conference on Tuesday, also raised questions on the implementation of the affordable housing policy and various projects being launched under it.

The authority said that it was found that management quota seats were sold at a hefty premium that was against the interest of the scheme.

The letter written to senior town planner(stp), Gurugram, observed that promoters are charging premium as high as Rs 2.5 lakh per application with the promise that only a fixed number of forms shall be sold to ensure allotment. Also no closing date for the submission of forms is mentioned in the advertisements.

“Any promoter found violating provisions of the scheme may attract proceedings for revocation or cancellation of registration by HRERA as well as penal proceedings,” he said, adding that there was a need to bring in more transparency in the system. The real estate body has also asked the STP to set up a help desk so that home owners can get information and forms of all the affordable projects.

In case, a buyer is not able to get a form, he can approach Jaivir Sharma, assistant town planner and Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority for help, the authority said.

Around 54 housing projects have been launched in the city under the affordable housing policy, out of which work has started on 37 projects.

Khandelwal also said that an allottee cannot sell or transfer a plot for at least one year after getting possession.

In case of violation, the buyer will have to pay a penalty of 200% of the sale value.

It was also made clear that the developers will have to obtain an environment certificate within a year of getting the licence for the project.

First Published: Jan 23, 2019 14:51 IST