‘RERA’ IN TAMIL NADU

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

Introduction

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 aims to regulate and promote the real estate sector by regulating the transactions between buyers and promoters of residential as well as commercial projects. It also has provisions for establishing a regulatory authority at state level called ‘Real Estate Regulatory Authority’ (RERA) for monitoring the real estate sector and adjudicating disputes relating to Real Estate Projects. The main aim of the Act is to protect buyers and help investment in Real Estate Sector.   Registration of all Real Estate projects and Real Estate agents is made mandatory with RERA. No sale in a real estate project can be made without registration of the project with RERA. These Rules will apply to all ongoing projects and future projects where the area of land exceeds five hundred square meters or the number of apartments proposed to be developed exceed eight inclusive of all phases.

Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority

The Tamil Nadu is in charge for the State Tamil Nadu and Andaman Nicobar islands in respect of RERA.  The Tamil Nadu Government made ‘The Tamil Nadu (Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017 vide G.O. Ms. No. 112, dated 22.06.2017.  Vide Notification No. GSR 1020 (E), dated 31.10.2016 the Central Government made ‘The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (General) Rules, 2016.

The Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority consists of Chairman and two members.  One Adjudicating Officer has also been appointed.  The Authority is functioning at I floor, Gandhi Irwin Bridge Road, Egmore, Chennai.

Vide Notification No. SRO C-13/2018, dated 13.06.2018 the Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority made ‘The Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (General) Regulations, 2018. 

Registration

Under the Act the project is liable to be registered.  The Real Estate Agent is also to be registered.

Registration of Project

The Registration of project is discussed in detail in the Act and the rules framed there under.  The Registration fee for registration project in Tamil Nadu is as detailed below-

• In case of group housing project - ₹ 5/- per square meter for projects where the area of land proposed to be developed does not exceed one thousand square meters; or ₹ 10/- per square meter for projects where the area of land proposed to be developed exceeds one thousand square meters, but shall not be more than ₹ 5 lakhs;
• In case of mixed development (residential and commercial) project - ₹ 10/- per square meter for projects where the area of land proposed to be developed does not exceed one thousand square meters; or ₹ 15/- per square meter for projects where the area of land proposed to be developed exceeds one thousand square meters, but shall not be more than ₹ 7 lakhs;
• In case of commercial projects - ₹ 20/- per square meter for projects where the area of land proposed to be developed does not exceed one thousand square meters; or ₹ 25/- per square meter for projects where the area of land proposed to be developed exceeds one thousand square meters, but shall not be more than ₹ 10 lakhs;
• In case of plotted development projects - ₹ 5/- per square meter, but shall not be more than ₹ 2 lakhs.

Project Extension

• 10% of the original Project Registration fee if filed three months prior to the date of expiry of the registration granted.
• Additional 10% of the project registration fee if not filed prior to three months.

Registration of Agent

  The fee payable in respect of registration for an agent is as detailed below-

• ₹ 10,000/- in case of the applicant being an individual.
• ₹ 50,000/- in case of the applicant other than an individual.

Change of registration of project/agent

  For any changes after registration certificate has been issued, a fee of ₹ 2000 per transaction will be charged.

Registered projects

  The following table shows the details of registration of projects in Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar islands-

Year	Tamil Nadu	Andaman and Nicobar Islands
2017	280	0
2018	564	1
2019	492	0
2020	755	0
2021	104*	0

*As on 24.02.2021

22 projects have been rejected by the Regulatory Authority.  21 projects have been withdrawn by the applicants themselves.  10 projects have been returned by the Authority.

Registered Agents

The Agents can register with the Authority through off line as well as online.  10 persons have registered on line with the Authority as Agent.  In the offline mode the number of registration as agents is-

Year	Tamil Nadu	Andaman and Nicobar Islands
2017	185	9
2018	206	6
2019	688	6
2020	240	0

Penalty

The Authority issued show cause notices to 34 promoters for levy of penalty for non registration of the projects with the Authority.

Caution to public

TNRERA has issued notices to the promoters of 547 buildings advising to apply for project registration as they fall within the ambit of RERA. The owners/promoters of these buildings have replied that their building are meant for own use and not for sale to the general public. Accordingly, the said buildings have not been registered with TNRERA. The Authority cautioned the public to take note that the promoters/developers of these projects are not authorized to sell/lease any space in the project under Sec.3 of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.

Advertisement

The Regulatory Authority issued a circular vide No. TNRERA/7/2018, dated 22.11.2018 on releasing of advertisement in any media.    The Circular stipulates that the following should be mentioned while issuing an advertisement-

• RERA registration number should be mentioned promptly;
• Tamil Nadu RERA website should be mentioned;
• No disclaimer clause should be mentioned stating that the information is subject to change.

If completion certificate was applied before 22.06.2017 has been obtained the same has to be mentioned in the advertisement.

In case where completion certificate was applied before 22.06.2017and rejected, the promoters of such projects have to apply for RERA registration.  

All regularized layouts with unsold plots should apply for RERA registration.

Display Board

TNRERA number should be mentioned in the display board installed at the site.

Quarterly report

The quarterly progress of the registered project shall be furnished to the Authority in the CD format.

Escrow Account

The promoter shall get the accounts relating to the escrow account audited within six months after the end of every financial year by a  Chartered Accountant in practice and shall produce statement of accounts duly certified and signed by such Chartered Accountant and it shall be verified during the audit that the amounts collected for a particular project have been utilized for the project and withdrawal has been in compliance with the proportion to the percentage of completion of the project.  The transfer of bank account of the registered project has to be done only with the consent of the Authority.

Complaint with Adjudicating Officer

Rule 38 provides that any aggrieved person may file a complaint with the Adjudicating Officer for compensation under-

• Section 12 – obligation of the promoter regarding veracity of the advertisement or prospectus;
• Section 14 – adherence to sanctioned plans and project specifications by the promoter;
• Section 18 –  return of amount and compensation;
• Section 19 – rights and duties of allottees.

In Form N with a fee of ₹ 5,000/-.  The Adjudicating Officer on receipt of complaint will issue notice to the respondent, makes an enquiry and dispose the complaint. 

The Adjudicating Authority disposed-

• 94 complaints in the year 2018;
• 267 complaints in the year 2019;
• 137 complaints in the year 2020; and
• 58 complaints in the year 2021 (as on 24.02.2021).

Complaint with the Authority

Rule 37 provides that any aggrieved person may file a complaint with the Authority for violation  under the Act or the rules and regulations made there under, save as those provided to be adjudicated by the Adjudicating Officer in Form M with a fee of ₹ 1000/-.  The Authority disposed-

• 28 complaints in the year 2018;
• 71 complaints in the year 2019;
• 73 complaints in the year 2020; and
• 16 complaints in the year 2021 (as on 24.02.2021).

Appellate Tribunal

Any person aggrieved by any decision or direction or orders made by the Authority or by Adjudicating Officer under this Act, may prefer an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal having jurisdiction over the matter.   Every appeal shall be accompanied by a fee of ₹ 1000/- remitted online.  Every appeal shall be filed in Form L with the following documents-

• An attested copy of the order against which the appeal lies;
• Copies of documents relied upon by the appellant and referred to in appeal; and
• Index of the documents.

The Appellate Tribunal consists of one Chairperson and one Judicial Member and one Administrative Member.  One Registrar is appointed for this purpose.

The Authority made ‘Tamil Nadu Real Estate Appellate Tribunal Regulations, 2019.  The Appellate Tribunal till date (24.02.2021) disposed 67 appeals.