BENGALURU: In a complete violation of the orders issued by the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) Tribunal by builders, a mere 12% of the penalties levied on them to be paid to home buyers has been complied with.
Data released by the Authority on its website on details on cases and recoveries across the State upto December 21, 2024, reveals that just around Rs 92 crore has been paid by developers out of a whopping Rs 758 crore that needs to be paid.
Out of a total of 1660 cases in which orders have been issued by K-RERA, recoveries have been made in just 233 of them.
Builders in Bengaluru are the biggest defaulters. Ozone Group and its sister concerns have 201 cases filed against them with a payment of Rs 178,82,99,933 pending from them. Mantri Developers comes second with 53 cases pending against it and a sum of Rs 56,52,72,288 yet to be recovered from it.
The State government has promised to consider setting up a special cell to speed up the collection of these land revenue dues. A letter from Hemavati, Under Secretary to Government, in the Housing Department (RERA), on November 26,2024 has given this assurance. It also states that the RERA has been directed to take action against the promoters who violate the RERA Act and Rules.
This was in response to repeated appeals from M S Shankar, National General Secretary, Forum for peoples collective Efforts (earlier known as Fight for RERA) calling for stringent action against developers so that home buyers are benefited.
Shankar told TNIE, “There are many provisions in the Central RERA Act, like hefty penalty on a daily basis, revoking the RERA Registration, denying New RERA Registration, issue of a directive to confiscate the properties of violators, freeze bank accounts or carry out a forensic audit in the case of those not complying with its orders.”The authorities are not taking any further action once they initiate the process of refund as per RERA section 40 (1) and K- RERA Rule No. 25.
Dhananjaya Padmanabhachar, convenor of Karnataka Home Buyers Forum charged, “K-RERA’s soft corner for builder is making home buyers suffer in Karnataka. Even after 7 years of RERA Karnataka’s existence, they are not only wasting taxpayers money, but also taking away home buyers’ human rights too. Karnataka government must immediately step up to take corrective actions to replace inefficient RERA officers with individuals who can ensure justice for buyers.”