New Delhi: Keeping applications for registration by builders/promoters pending for long invited allegations of corruption, Delhi’s real estate tribunal has warned, asking Rera to “either accept or reject” such pleas within 30 days of receiving them.“The bottom line is that Real Estate Regulatory Authority must act within 30 days of receipt of the application and deal with these on merits by either granting or refusing registration. Long delays, in contravention of specific timelines provided under the statute, are an invitation to allegations of corruption and mischief, which need to be avoided by taking prompt action as statutorily mandated,” Real Estate Appellate Tribunal observed last week.It was dealing with an appeal filed by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) against a penalty of Rs 10 lakh imposed by RERA for delay in getting a multistorey housing project in Dwarka registered with it on time. While Rera faulted DDA for filing an incomplete application, the civic agency argued its plea remained pending with the real estate regulator for several months.Tribunal member Lorren Bamniyal underlined that Rera Act didn’t make a distinction between a complete and an incomplete application. “In the present case, there was no reason for the authority (RERA) to keep the application pending over a long period of time and subsequently impose a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on the appellant,” the member observed, after advocates Anil Kumar Sharma and Vrinda Kapoor Dev submitted that DDA applied for registration online on Feb 28, 2023, on which the authority inexplicably did not take any action and kept it pending.DDA’s lawyers said Rera acted almost seven months later, when it highlighted lack of certain information and asked DDA to file a complete application.To prevent such delays, the tribunal, in its order, directed that Rera would “henceforth ensure strict compliance of Section 5 of the Act” that deals with the grant of registration. “In the event of a rejection, Rera shall grant a hearing to the applicant. In case the authority fails to either grant registration or reject the application, the applicant can claim deemed registration and the authority shall, within a period of seven days of the expiry of the said period of 30 days, provide a registration number and a login ID and password to the promoter for accessing the website of the authority and to create his web page and fill therein the details of the proposed project,” the order said, citing Rera Act, which itself gives a timeline of 30 days.
