Register projects by April 30 or face music, builders told

PATNA: Newly appointed chairman of Real Estate Regulation Authority (RERA) Afzal Amanullah on Thursday extended the deadline for registration of new and ongoing projects by builders in the state under Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 from March 30 to April 30.
Addressing media persons here, Amanullah said with the establishment of the full-fledged state regulatory authority, RERA will now regulate transactions related to residential and commercial projects.“Only five builders got their projects registered in the state by March 31 and 99 others have applied for it,” Amanullah said.
He added the state urban development and housing department (UDHD) recently issued show-cause notices to 15 developers for advertising and marketing their projects without getting them registered with the RERA.
“Non-registration of the projects with RERA, according to Section 59 of the central Act, may now invite imprisonment of up to three years. As per the law enacted by the state, violators can also be fined 10% of the estimated cost of the real estate project,” Amanullah said.
The RERA, Bihar had been established under Section 22(1) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 of the government of India.
“Some of the major provisions of the Act, besides mandatory registration of projects and real estate agents, include depositing 70% of the funds collected from buyers in a separate bank account for construction of the project. This will ensure timely completion of the project as the funds could be withdrawn only for construction purposes. The law also prescribes penalties on developers for delaying the projects. All developers are required to disclose their project details on the regulator’s website and provide quarterly updates on construction progress,” said Amanullah.
He added, “As per RERA rules, a real estate developer can’t collect more than 10% of the overall cost involved in the construction of the unit at the time of booking. The Act also mandates that the flats should be sold only on the basis of the carpet area (net usable floor area) and not super built-up area. As per Section 3 of this Act, it is mandatory for the promoters to register their plot, apartments (flats) or buildings where the area exceeds 500sqm and the number of apartments (flats) exceeds eight.”
Newly appointed members of RERA Rajiva Bhushan Sinha and Subodh Kumar Sinha were also present at the media briefing.