This story is from March 28, 2018

Even a year after formation of Rera, developers fail to comply with norms

Even a year after formation of Rera, developers fail to comply with norms
AMARAVATI: The landmark legislation to safeguard the interests of real-estate investors, Real Estate Regulation and Development Act — 2016, is yet to make an impact as influential developers are refusing to follow it. The toothless, nodal agency, Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera), has failed in making its presence felt, and has not pushed developers to join the platform.
Nearly 12 months after issuing the notification on formation of Rera, only 23 real-estate projects have been enrolled with the authority.
In reality, over 2,000 projects are underway across the state. Sources said that in the capital city region alone, over 70,000-80,000 flats have either been completed recently or are under-construction.
As per rules, all these projects should have been enrolled under Rera. However, realtors and builders are not serious on joining Rera, citing several technical and financial troubles. While only five projects below 1,000 sqm were enrolled with Rera, just four projects between 1,000 sqm-4,000 sqm were registered. Some 14 developers of big projects, with more than 4,000 sqm, have filed their project reports with the Rera.
“The rules under the new Act are very stringent. They are likely to kill small- and medium-sized developers in the next 4-5 years,” said AP Real-Estate Developers Association (APREDA) president, Gadde Tirupathi Rao. He said that unscientifically formed rules, including maintaining an escrow account, and reporting daily progress to the authority are major dampers.
Normally, small developers manage entire project with 2-3 regular staffers as they depend on agents to book plots or flats. In order to get the daily progress report to the authority, the builder has to rope in the services of regular architect, planner, accountant, and also a charted accountant. Builder Y Adinarayana said: “We might be forced to dedicate our entire time in attending the case hearings if people keep on launching complaints for one reason or the other. How can we complete the project under such stress.”

Although, they are not against bringing transparency to their activities, suspecting the developers will not help them take the projects ahead, said real-estate developer G Chandrasekhar. Interestingly, nine projects-all big-ticket investments from the capital city region got registered under Rera while one each project from Visakhapatnam and Kadapa got enrolled. “We are waiting with patience with a hope that they will join sooner or later. We will not hesitate to crackdown after giving little more time,” said a senior official of Rera.
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