CS reviews functioning of J&K RERA

Srinagar: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, on Wednesday reviewed the functioning of the Jammu and Kashmir Real Estate Regulatory Authority (JKRERA) during a detailed presentation made by its Chairman, Satish Chandra.
Present in the meeting were Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD; Member, RERA; Commissioner, SMC/JMC; Director, ULB, Kashmir/Jammu; MD, Housing Board; Chief Town Planner, Jammu/Kashmir besides others.
The meeting focused on regulatory achievements, enforcement actions, public grievance mechanisms and existing challenges being faced in streamlining the real estate sector in the Union Territory.
The Chief Secretary emphasized the critical role of JKRERA in promoting transparency, accountability and consumer protection in the real estate sector. He called for enhanced inter-departmental coordination and timely interventions to ensure full compliance with the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act.
Dulloo directed the Housing & Urban Development Department (H&UDD) and allied departments to extend support to JKRERA in fulfilling its mandate. He stressed on resolving the coordination issues, accelerating infrastructure setup and ensuring that no real estate project operates outside the regulatory ambit.
It was informed by the Chairman, RERA, that the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 was extended to the UT of Jammu and Kashmir vide notification dated 30th October 2019. Consequently, the UT government established JKRERA on 22nd July 2020 under Section 20 of the Act and framed the J&K Real Estate Development Rules, 2020. The Jammu & Kashmir Special Tribunal had been designated as the Appellate Tribunal.
The JK RERA exercises full jurisdiction over all the commercial and residential real estate projects within Jammu and Kashmir, except the projects under 500 square meters, projects with fewer than 8 apartments, projects completed before the Act’s commencement and renovation projects not involving new sale or marketing
Regarding the registration and compliance, it was revealed that JKRERA has made the project and agent registration mandatory, both online and offline. Besides, the promoters and real estate agents are being charged registration fees, ensuring due diligence through document verification and status tracking. The Authority has already registered multiple projects and agents, increasing the consumer confidence and market regulation.
With respect to the complaint redressal mechanism for the Consumers, promoters and agents, it was apprised that these can file complaints through a defined digital process after depositing a fee of Rs. 1,000. Besides, JKRERA has taken strict enforcement action to ensure compliance while penalties have been imposed on violators across the districts. Notably, a penalty of ₹10 lakh was levied on a promoter for non-registration of the property as per the law.
The meeting also discussed several institutional and operational hurdles including infrastructure deficiency, layout approvals in rural areas, clearance of bottlenecks from various departments and need for a robust verification mechanism with JKRERA for registering transactions, allowing some unregistered projects to bypass oversight. It was also deliberated that a close coordination among the Municipal Committees, Development Authorities and Revenue Departments need to enhance the support enforcement, especially in identifying and curbing the unauthorized colonies.
Moreover, it was maintained that focus should be laid on implementation of a single-window clearance system, mandatory verification of RERA registration before the property transactions, enhanced collaboration with revenue and local bodies besides streamlining of approval processes for legacy and ongoing projects.