BENGALURU: Following complaints from the allottees of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL) regarding delay on the part of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in completing infrastructure works in the layout as well as applying for a certificate renewal with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) specifying a new deadline, the regulator on Thursday conducted an inquiry into the issue. BDA was pulled up for the massive delay and asked to come for a second hearing on December 31 to specify a deadline for the project.
According to a representative of the NPKL Open Forum, who attended the inquiry on behalf of their group at the authority’s office on Mission Road, BDA had professed that it was not sure if the project came under the RERA ambit and hence it did not take steps in the past for registering it. “RERA officials made it clear that there was no doubt regarding it as every real estate project came under its ambit,” said the representative.
BDA was supposed to complete the project on March 31, 2018, and had obtained a RERA certificate specifying the deadline. The certificate had expired and BDA has now applied for a renewal of the certificate giving a new deadline of December 31, 2021.
A total of 10,000 allottees have been given sites under the Kempegowda Layout project Phase-I and Phase-II. However, BDA is yet to complete basic infrastructure in many areas of the layout, say the allottees.
When BDA officials were asked to give a deadline, they gave no answer to the RERA inquiry panel. “Top BDA officials sought a month’s time from RERA to come up with a deadline for the project. Following this, RERA has fixed December 31 as the date for the next hearing to take place in this connection,” another allottee who was present during the inquiry said.
Under RERA regulations, BDA is supposed to pay a penalty to site or home owners in case any project gets delayed beyond the deadline given to RERA. “We were asked to pay penalty for every day delayed by us beyond the deadline fixed by the BDA for full payment towards our site. Why is BDA not willing to pay us and violating RERA regulations?” an allottee sought to know. BDA Commissioner G C Prakash as well as the engineers who attended the hearing refused to speak to this reporter about the inquiry.