Kerala: K-RERA to introduce virtual hearing from July, number of registrations cross 100 in the state

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: K-RERA (Kerala real estate regulatory authority) will launch virtual hearing from July on wards to redress rising number of complaints regarding real estate projects; especially those of emergency nature. The registration of real estate projects has also crossed 100 in the state. K-RERA has given registration to 135 projects till date and the figures are expected to cross 200 in next two weeks.
K-RERA has recently communicated that the authority has been compelled to adjourn all the hearings of complaints till June 30. In case of complaints requiring urgent hearing, the complainants have been directed to submit an application through e-mail along with their complaints. K-RERA which began hearing of complainants on February 5 had to put off hearing during lock down and owing to social distancing measures, the authority has been focusing on complaints of emergency nature alone. Over 230 complaints are now pending with K-RERA for redressal and many of the complaints are centred around single project with multiple parties filing complaints against the builder.
"We will make use of a web based platform to schedule hearing. We had anticipated that the situation due to Covid-19 would ease down by this month, however cases are rising. Hence we are going to introduce virtual hearing from July onwards. Notice will be issued to complainants and using the platform they will be asked to log in using password for hearing. The session will also be recorded for further use," said P H Kurien, chairman K-RERA.
The authority had thought of an e-court like system to do virtual hearing however the web portal needs to be upgraded to facilitate such a system. Virtual hearing will mainly focus on resolving complaints of emergency nature. `` There are a few complaints which require immediate redressal and it can't be put off owing to restraints in arranging physical hearing process. Virtual hearing is going to be the way forward,'' an official with K-RERA said.
K--RERA officials said that although the number of project registrations has crossed 100, majority of the projects come under ongoing category. Of the 135 projects which have been registered, only two come under new project category. Even with the number of applications pending for registration, less than 10 projects are categorised as new. `` This hints at a dullness in real estate sector given the present circumstances. We hope the situation to change as housing demand could go up,'' an official with K-RERA said.
The authority has put off registrations for nearly three months owing to lockdown. There have been issues in proper filing of applications on the part of certain builders causing further delay in processing of applications.
With the frequent recurrence of inaccuracies and irregularities, K-RERA had earlier warned the promoters that it will invoke section 60 of Real estate ( regulation and development) act, 2016 which stipulates that any false information given or any contravention of provision of relevant sections by the promoter will attract a penalty which may extend up to 5% of the estimated cost of the real estate project