Following are few of the important the specifications mentioned in the Act:
All ongoing and under-construction projects that have not received completion certificate must register itself with the Regulatory Authorities by July 31, 2017.
It has also been mentioned that projects with a plot size of minimum 500 sq m or eight apartments will fall under the jurisdiction of the Act.
Also, Section 3 of the Act states that no promoter is allowed to 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 this Act. Promoters of the projects that are ongoing on the date of commencement of the Act, and whose completion certificate has not been issued, will have to make an application to the Authority for registration of the said project within a period of three months from the date of commencement of this Act.
According to the Act, Completed projects are exempted from the purview of the Act.
But the question arises, what is the operational definition of a completed project? Moreover, what about the projects that have got an Occupation Certificate (OC) but not Completion Certificate (CC)?
In the opinion of Real Estate experts who are speaking in line with the section 3(1) of the Act, are saying that:
All projects that have 8 or more units, whether having a CC or not, should be registered under RERA.
However, a project cannot be considered completed until the RWA of the society is formed and operations handed over to the society in line with the RERA.
In some cases housing societies have OC but no CC and vice-versa. In such cases, the project has to register itself under RERA. Even if the housing society is fully occupied and all units have been sold, still all units need to get completion certificates before July 31.
It is a good decision from the buyer’s perspective because now onwards the buyer can get a clear picture of what he/she can expect at the time of possession and what ones legal recourse is if the developer fails to deliver. It is also applicable to the amenities and facilities mentioned in the sales agreement, from which there can be no deviation unless two-third of all buyers in the project agree to such changes.
What is the true picture of the ongoing projects in terms of RERA Act?
In some states, unfortunately, ongoing projects are still in a grey area. Therefore, a buyer must cross-check rules in the state concerned before investing as many states have kept the ongoing projects out of the ambit of the Act. However, it is always a safe and secure investment option to invest in a property that has been registered under RERA.