WBRERA serves show-cause notices to 13 developers

Kolkata: West Bengal Real Estate Regulatory Authority (WBRERA) has served show-cause notices to 13 developer groups, this week, for advertising and selling flats to buyers without getting their projects registered with the regulatory body as per the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act (RERA), 2016.

At a time when the real estate sector is said to be booming and its contribution to the state GDP stands at 10 per cent, several developers are apparently flouting rules to stay in the race.

Documents accessed by Millennium Post show that at least 13 real estate developer groups have been served notices by WBRERA to show cause for advertising and selling flats without first registering their projects with the regulatory body as required under Section 03 of Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016.

The above section provides that “no promoter shall advertise, market, book, sell or offer to sell or invite person to purchase in any manner any plot, apartment or building, as the case may be, in any real estate project, part of it, in any planning area, without registering the real estate project with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority established under this Act.”

In some of the projects, it was observed that since the final completion certificates (CC) were not obtained these were required to mandatorily get registered under the regulatory authority. The show cause notices have been served to these developers by the Special Law Officer, WBRERA.

The names of developers and their respective projects concerned are: Build Heaven Construction Pvt Ltd for ‘Ganga Greens’; India Green Realty Ltd for ‘Greenland Eco Village’; Gokul Group Kolkata for ‘Gokul Niwas’; AV Group for ‘AV Courtyard’; Nitu Developers for ‘Sunshine Green City’. In the case of Kappa Builders, there are four unregistered projects: ‘Kappa Sunshine’, ‘Kappa Enclave’, ‘Kappa White House’ and ‘Kappa Homes’.

Others are Amara Construction for ‘Meenakesh Tower’; Hive Construction for ‘Hive Pinnacle Residency’; Bengal Shelter Housing Development Ltd for ‘Neel Diganta’; Cosmos Homes India Pvt Ltd for ‘Cosmos Green City, Barasat’; Ma Batai Construction for ‘Ma Batai Apartment’; Cancun Construction for ‘Cancun Skylark’; and Fabworth Promoters Pvt Ltd for ‘Vivara’. WBRERA has directed the real estate groups concerned to show cause in writing why action should not be taken against them for the violations.

It said the reply to the notice must reach the WBRERA office within 10 days from the date of issuance of the notice, failing which, appropriate penal action will be taken against the promoter company.

It is learnt that under Section 59 (1) of the Act if any promoter contravenes the provision of Section 3, he shall be liable to a penalty which may extend up to 10% of the estimated cost of the real estate project as determined by the authority.

Under Section 59 (2) of the Act, if any promoter does not comply with the orders, decisions or directions issued under sub-section (1) or continues to violate the provision of Section 3, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to 3 years or with fine which may extend up to a further 10 per cent of the estimated cost of the Real Estate Project, or with both.