OC Application Date, Not Issuance, Decides RERA Applicability: Karnataka RERA Dismisses Plea Against Pre-RERA Project

The Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority has dismissed a complaint by the Promont Residents Welfare Association against Tata Housing Development Co. Ltd. and The Promont Hilltop Private Limited, holding that it did not have jurisdiction as the project did not fall within the ambit of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.

A Bench of Chairman Rakesh Singh and Member G.R. Reddy recorded that the developers had applied for partial occupancy certificates on May 19, 2016 and June 20, 2017 before the enactment of RERA. It held that the applicability of RERA depends on the date of such application, not on when the certificate is issued.

Relying on Rule 4(iv) of the Karnataka Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017, the Authority held that projects where an application for completion or occupancy certificate has been filed are not required to be registered.

It said that in such cases, RERA would have no jurisdiction to entertain complaints.

“So, upon completion of the tower 1 and 2, the respondents have applied occupancy certificate prior to enactment of RERA. Irrespective of when the occupancy certificate was issued, the eligibility for obtaining occupancy certificate has to be reckoned from the date of application itself. From that point of view, the provision of RERA doesn't attract to the case on hand. Therefore, even though the occupancy certificate was issued subsequent to enactment of RERA, the case falls within the exemption provided under the Act. Hence, the present complaint would not be maintainable in any stretch of imagination before the Authority,” the bench said.

The dispute relates to “The Promont” project in Banashankari 3rd Stage, Bengaluru.

The association represents allottees of 312 flats in Phase-I. It alleged construction defects, poor maintenance, and delay in execution of the Deed of Declaration.

It also pointed out that the Deed of Declaration was executed only in June 2024 based on a revised plan approved in 2023.

The Authority noted that Phase-I was completed in 2017 and that applications for occupancy certificates had already been filed before the competent authority.

It held that the project does not qualify as an “ongoing project” and does not require registration under RERA.

The complaint was held not maintainable.

The Authority granted liberty to the association to approach an appropriate forum for the same reliefs.

For Petitioner (Promont Residents Welfare Association): Advocate Shivakumar.

For Respondent (Tata Housing Development Co. Ltd. & Anr.): Advocate Samiha Gopal.