A builder was fined Rs 1 lakh for the violation of RERA by MahaRERA Chairman Ajoy Mehta. Here’s what the builder did wrong.
By Varun Singh
A builder was fined Rs 1 lakh by MahaRERA, the fine was imposed for a violation of the RERA act by the builder.
Complainant Shaikh Arbaz Arif, approached MahaRERA against Shree Samarth Construction builders and developers.
It was the complaint of Shaikh that the builder had allotted him 8 flats through a development agreement. These apartments were to be given to the complainant in lieu of the development rights of the land which he was holding.
This building was to be completed in 30 months from the date of commencement certificated dated, April 18, 2015.
The complaint also claimed that the project wasn’t registered with MahaRERA and hence sought compensation, possession and also rectification of various defects in the building.
The builder submitted that they were located in the gram panchayat and it was with the consent of the land owner that they continued with the construction without registering under the RER act. The builder also claimed that due to COVID 19, non-availability of sand and other reasons he was not able to complete the project.
Section 3 o the RERA act clearly states that, no promoter shall advertise, market, book sell or offer for sale, or invite persons to purchase in any manner any plot, apartment or building, as the case may be, in any real estate project or part of it in any planning area, without registering the real estate project with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority established under the Act.
Section 4 and 4 (2) (c) and (d) of the Act, which states, every promoter shall make an application to the authority for registration of the real estate project in such form, manner, within such time and accompanied by such fee as may be specified by the regulations made by the Authority. The section further states that an authenticated copy of the approvals and commencement certificate from the competent authority obtained in accordance with the laws as may be applicable for the real estate project mentioned in the application, and where the project is proposed to be developed in phases, an authenticated copy of the approvals and commencement certificate form the competent authority for each of such phases.
The section 4 (2) (d) states that the sanctioned plan, layout plan and specifications of the proposed project or the phase thereof, and the whole project as sanctioned by the competent authority.
Section 59 of RERA states that, if any promoter contravenes the provisions of section 3, he shall be liable to a penalty which may extend up to ten per cent of the estimated cost of the real estate project as determined by the Authority.
Mehta in his order stated that it is clear from the submissions made by the parties that the project is an on going project as the OC is not yet obtained by the developer for the said project and this falls within the ambit of the section 3 of the act.
He further observed that the project is an on-going project, the same needs to be registered within a period of 30 days of the builder obtaining the requisite approvals of the project. The builder shall not advertise, market, book or create third party rights by offer for sale, enter into agreement for sale any apartment in the project, without obtaining the MahaRERA registration number for the project.
Finally MahaRERA chairman Mehta noted in his order that the builder has accepted monies from the complainant without registering the project with MahaRERA, the builder is directed to pay MahaRERA a penalty of Rs 1 lakh for violation of section 3 of the RERA act.
Also Read: Of the 17k complaints in how many has MahaRERA passed an Order!
