RERA fines DLF Garden City developers Rs 2.5 lakh

Hyderabad: The Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TGRERA) penalised the developers of DLF Garden City in Nandigama, Rangareddy district, Rs.2.5 lakh for failing to register the project under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA).

The authority was acting on a complaint filed by Savitha Malhotra, Babitha Gupta and others, alleged the non-compliance and misrepresentation by the developers.

Launched in 2012 as a premium residential township, the project was a joint venture between DLF India Ltd. and Gayatri Infra Pvt. Ltd.

The complainants alleged that despite obtaining layout approvals in 2012 from the HMDA, the developers failed to register the project under RERA when the Act came into effect in 2017. The buyers also claimed that the developers misrepresented facts, failed to secure completion or occupancy certificates and violated HMDA conditions, including completing development works and releasing promised land.

Attracted by the developers’ promises, the complainants said, buyers entered into agreements and made payments. Later, they discovered that the land for the project, spanning 4,38,558 square metres, was jointly held by three other entities: Livana Builders and Developers Pvt. Ltd, Latona Builders and Constructions Pvt. Ltd and Chamundeswari Builders Pvt. Ltd. DLF India did not make any disclosure about this.

In response, the developers argued that the project was exempt from registration, claiming it was an ongoing project approved before January 1, 2017. They stated that the project, being a plotted development, only required layout permissions and blamed delays in obtaining completion certificates on procedural issues.

After reviewing the case, RERA dismissed the developers’ claims. It ruled that RERA applied to all ongoing projects that did not have completion certificates before its enforcement. The tribunal clarified that under Section 89 of the Act, Central legislation superseded conflicting state rules, invalidating the developers' request for exemption. Moreover, the project’s final layout approval in 2019 placed it within the range of RERA, making registration mandatory.