Karnataka RERA: Realty Projects Get Deadline Extension By Three Months
In a major relief for developers, the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) has given a deadline extension to all the real estate projects across the city by a 3-months.
The circular was issued on Saturday by KS Latha Kumari, Secretary at K-RERA.
The relief has come just after the state and the central government announced 21-days nation-wide lockdown due to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
All K-RERA registered projects whose completion date (including revised completion date) expires on or after March 15. The deadline of all statutory compliances in accordance with the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 and the rules and regulations which were due in March, April and May has been extended till 30th June 2020.
With this, the real estate developers will get a 3-months extension to complete their projects.
The circular also stated that all complaints cases listed for hearing up to 14th April before the K-RERA and the adjudicating officer have been adjourned except for the urgent cases. This step has been taken to avoid gathering of litigators, visitors, and lawyers. People can see the next date of hearing in each case on the authority’s website.
The Goa government was the first to extend the deadline by three months till October 2020 for all RERA registered ongoing projects in the state but didn’t notify final rules.
The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Maha RERA) has also extended the deadline by a 3-months considering the 21-days lockdown in the state.
Similarly, the housing authority of Noida and Ghaziabad on Tuesday decided to relieve builders from penal interest and other dues for the period their project is delayed due to litigation if they pass on this benefit to the homebuyers.
Besides, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has also decided to pass on the benefits of moratorium announced by RBI to its allottees.
The construction work in K-RERA registered projects has been severely affected and supply chains for getting construction materials has been disrupted due to nation-wide 21-day lockdown. At the same time, migrant workers have also migrated back to their home towns.
Due to these circumstances, the housing projects across Karnataka will take some time to restart the work. The state, as well as the central government, has taken several steps to control the damage caused by COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that completion of K-RERA register housing projects does not get adversely affected. As a result, it has been decided by the K-RERA to issue this order.
Currently, over 3,800 projects have been registered under K-RERA. Those projects that are either not registered with RERA or fail to meet its own deadline to complete the work, attract penalty from the regulatory authority.
MS Shankar, Secretary of the Forum for People’s Collective Efforts, said the extension was fair. “We do not have any objection. The State Government, however, should have also been considerate on the home-buyers by asking the builders not to pressurize on the monthly payments,” he said.
