UPRERA plugs loopholes on project delivery deadline

LUCKNOW: Builders, who hoodwinked home-buyers by giving them one project deadline and UP Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UPRERA) another to avoid penalty on delay in project delivery, would no longer be able to do so.

Following complaints from home-buyers that builders had mentioned a delivery date much earlier in their agreement than what they had declared to UPRERA, the regulator has plugged the loophole. “We have redesigned the registration form, made it more user friendly but the facility to edit the information and documents to be uploaded by the developer would no longer be available from Saturday,” said a senior UPRERA official requesting anonymity. July 6, he said, was the deadline given to developers, who were given two-month time from May 7 onwards to make whatever changes or modifications they wanted to make in their registration forms.

By taking away this edit facility in the registration form from the developers, UPRERA officials feel the realtors would no longer be able to manipulate the date of delivery of flats to buyers. “The RERA, which came into effect all over the country on May 1, 2017, has six rules to ensure timely possession of properties. Developers registering projects with the UPRERA are mandated to declare the delivery date of projects. There are penalties if they delay beyond the date submitted,” said the official.

While details of number of projects registered are still being computed, an official said the regulator has received registration for 2,398 projects which include 386 new projects from 1,292 promoters and 2012 ongoing projects. People who have booked plots/flats in projects in Lucknow and across state have complained that their builders had committed to hand over the possession of their apartments, say in 2017 or 2018. However, during RERA registration, these developers have shown the date of possession as 2022-24.

But home-buyers are skeptical. They welcome the efforts to bring in accountability and transparency in the real estate sector but say mere paperwork would not change the situation on ground till rules are enforced and violators are taken to task. “Watch any advertisement or hoarding of new project launch. Almost all of them claim their project is RERA registered. Fine, but then who is going to ensure that the project is also RERA compliant,” says Ajaz Farooqui, who booked flat for her mother under senior citizens scheme in Sushant Golf City of Ansal API in 2011 and deposited full value of the property by 2014 but is still awaiting delivery of the flat. UPRERA officials admit that they have not been able to focus on the enforcement and execution part much because of the skeleton workforce, lack of proper infrastructure and paraphernalia. Experts say builders intentionally push back the deadline to allow them a buffer in case the project gets stuck for some reason. Many builders are giving project completion deadlines to UPRERA which are different from the ones they have promised to flat buyers.

Imtiyaz Khan, a Lucknowite who works in the Gulf and has booked an apartment in BBD Green City, told HT his builder was to deliver his flat in December 2014. “But in the documents submitted to RERA he has given date of possession as April 2019,” he said. Similarly, another prominent developer in Gomti Nagar township has extended the delivery date from December 2019 to 2024.

EXPERTS SAY BUILDERS INTENTIONALLY PUSH BACK THE DEADLINE TO ALLOW THEM A BUFFER IN CASE THE PROJECT GETS STUCK