BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) has decided to make exposure visits to Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to learn the best practices adopted by the neighbouring states in the timely grant of registration certificates to realty projects.
The authority also decided to conduct regular weekly meetings with its officials dealing with registration matters to sit and deliberate on issues, to ensure that they are resolved at the earliest so that the registration certificate is granted to properties within the stipulated timeline of 30 days.
The move came after ORERA faced criticism for delays in granting the registration certificate, an important document issued to projects certifying their genuineness. The certificate is generally issued to projects after scrutiny involving checking land ownership, layout plans and more.
As per rules, it should be issued by ORERA within 30 days of receiving the application, but the authority took more than 100 days in some cases to grant the certificate. This prompted the govt to convene a meeting recently to deliberate on the issues and find a solution to the matter.
“Technical issues on the ORERA website shall be addressed expeditiously. ORERA shall conduct periodic seminars and training programme for stakeholders. A pre-scrutiny facility may be extended to the developers to facilitate submission of a complete application and minimise objections thereon,” read the minutes of the meeting accessed by TOI.
Absence of members from any resident welfare association at the meeting has raised eyebrows. “We are deeply disappointed that ORERA failed to invite any homebuyers or their associations to the recent stakeholders’ meeting,” real estate expert Bimalendu Pradhan said.
He said there were explicit directions from the housing and urban development department to include all stakeholders in the meeting. “Homebuyers constitute the majority and most affected stakeholders in the real estate sector. Excluding their input risks biased decision-making and increases the likelihood of future litigation,” Pradhan said.
An RTI response had revealed that as many as 72 projects did not receive registration certification within the stipulated timeline of 30 days. Out of these, 13 projects faced delays exceeding 100 days. “We were appointing experts and coming up with regulations to streamline the registration process of projects,” an ORERA member said.
