BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) has warned of stringent action including restriction on registration of agreement for sale against real estate promoters who fail to submit quarterly progress reports (QPRs) of their registered projects within the stipulated time, under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.
In a fresh directive, the ORERA has warned that persistent non-compliance will invite restrictions on project bank accounts, registration of agreements for sale and conveyance deeds, besides penalties and other legal action.
As per the order, promoters are required to upload QPRs containing updated information on their registered projects through the ORERA online portal within 15 days of the expiry of each quarter. The reports are intended to enable the authority to verify project progress and ensure that funds are utilised in accordance with the prescribed legal provisions.
The authority has stated that the submission of QPRs is a statutory obligation under the Act, read with Rule 15 of the Odisha Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017. The disclosures are crucial for monitoring construction progress and protecting the interests of homebuyers.
The periodic disclosures help verify the extent of development completed, the pending work and the utilisation of project funds and in the absence of the same, it becomes difficult to ascertain whether promoters are complying with the prescribed requirements, including maintaining a separate bank account for each project and utilising funds in accordance with the law.
The ORERA pointed out that certain promoters of the registered real estate projects have failed to submit their QPRs within the prescribed time frame which is a violation of their statutory obligation.
The restrictions will be withdrawn only after the promoter deposits the applicable penalty and submits the pending QPRs on the ORERA portal, subject to verification and satisfaction of the authority, it stated.
A senior official from ORERA told TNIE that the decision to impose restriction on the registration of the agreement for sale and conveyance deed was taken as some promoters failed to comply despite warning of freezing account.
“While around 90 pc promoters have started complying, around 10 pc are still not following their statutory obligation despite strict warning and freezing of bank account in around 20 to 30 cases. The fresh order has been issued with more stringent provisions in suppression of previous orders to rein in the violators,” he said.
In September, ORERA had directed the realtors to upload updated occupancy certificates (OCs) and completion certificates (CCs) on its portal within 30 days. It had warned that non-compliance could lead to penalties, restrictions on property registrations and freezing of project bank accounts.
