RERA exists only on paper in city

The Tribune: Chandigarh: Monday, July 24, 2017.

With only a week left for registration, not a single real estate agent or developer has got himself registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Chandigarh. July 31 is the last date for registration.

Chandigarh was one of the first UTs in the country to set up a temporary RERA on October 31, 2016, after its rules were notified by the Ministry of Urban Development. However, the authority has since remained on paper only.

The Administration appointed the Secretary, Housing, as the Chairman of the interim authority, but in the absence of a proper system, the registration has not started so far. JD Gupta, a property consultant, has been shuttling between departments for registration. He was not provided information under the RTI Act whether agents can work without registration after the expiry of the last date. He said employees had no knowledge as to who would accept the fee for registration. No account had been opened in the name of RERA for accepting the fee. Gupta said there was no provision on the website for depositing the fee. Registration under the Act is mandatory to carry out real estate business. Section 3 (1) of the Act mandates that no promoter can advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale or invite buyers to purchase any plot/apartment/building in a real estate project without registering the project with the real estate authority under the new law. Besides, Section 9 (1) of the Act provides that no real estate agent shall facilitate the sale or purchase of any plot, apartment or building in a real estate project registered without obtaining registration. Officials maintain that they have made a proposal for clubbing the RERA, with the authority of the Delhi Government, but the decision was pending.