Uttar Pradesh Gives A New Meaning To ‘Ongoing Projects’ Under RERA

The real estate rules in Uttar Pradesh government have modified the meaning of an ‘ongoing project’, which will now allow the developer to be exempted from the ambit of RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) even when he has just submitted his application for the license or has been given a part-completion certificate before RERA was implemented. This entirely states that developers who are not able to complete their projects and ditch homebuyers will not be chastised as per the guidelines of RERA.

The conditions which prevailed for penalties for any kind of violation by builders have also been toned down. On one hand, Central RERA approves an imprisonment for as long as three years or fine which may reach up to an amount of 10% of the cost of the project, while on the other hand, Uttar Pradesh has combined offence clause to refrain from imprisonment. Even the combining has been made limited to ‘maximum 10% of the cost of the project’, which indicates that the cost can also be zero in some situations.

Uttar Pradesh government has taken the step of keeping those projects away from the ambit of RERA which have either sent their applications or have been issued occupancy certificates. The biggest issue which is being faced here is delayed possession. Many projects which were started even 7-10 years back have still not been completed.