Haryana: Will blacklist all agents charging more than 0.5% brokerage on property sale, says Rera chief

GURUGRAM: Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (HRera) has issued a stern warning to 1,840 real estate agents registered with the authority, asking them not to charge more than 0.5% brokerage from sellers and buyers of properties.
“The agents, who charge more than 0.5% brokerage, are violating the provisions of Rule 1 of the Haryana Regulation of Property Dealers and Consultants Act 2009. The authority will blacklist and debar the agents who have committed the offence of demanding exorbitant commissions in contravention of the rule,” said HRera chief KK Khandelwal on Friday.
The regulator has sent out the warning as it receives a number of complaints by buyers or allottees alleging violations on a daily basis in the city. The Haryana Regulation of Property Dealers and Consultants Rules, 2009, according to the authority, provides charging of only 0.5% commission each from a buyer and a seller.
“The authority has decided to fix the problem and is working on blacklisting the agents who charge brokerage arbitrarily,” said Khandelwal, adding that arbitrary brokerage is an offence as defined in the Rera Act, but several agents or brokers are resorting to this malpractice in violation of the rules, which is punishable.
The authority also warned the agents who are indulging in sale of plots or apartments in the projects that are not registered with it. “It has come to our notice that brokers enter into an agreement with the promoters and block a number of units to strike deals in the market with allottees even when the project is not registered with the authority,” he said.
“Owing to this, a large number of allottees get cheated by brokers as before the registration neither sanctioned plans nor specifications of the project are available for buyers,” Rera chief said.
Deals are concluded just on presumptions, according to Rera, and later buyers are left in lurch if promised facilities and services are not delivered by developers. It has also come to the notice of the authority that brokers in such projects falsely represent that the services are of a particular standard or grade and the promoter has all approvals for sale of such units.
“We have also noticed that brokers send emails to lure buyers into buying properties in projects which are not even registered. Real estate agents are required to give all information pertaining to the projects along with valid documents so that at the time of booking or concluding the deal of any plot or apartment, the buyer is well-informed,” said an official.