Punjab RERA Chief Position: Remain Unfilled After a Month

Mohali district has 82 pending cases or nearly half of the projects that are awaiting approval.

There is an 182 real estate project backlog as a result of the Punjab Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) functioning without a chairperson for almost a month. Mohali district has 82 pending cases or about half of these projects that are still seeking permission. Furthermore, since January 7, there has been a vacancy in the role of RERA member secretary.

To protect the interests of consumers in the real estate market and promote accountability and openness between purchasers and developers, Punjab implemented RERA in May 2017.

On February 8, former RERA chairperson Satya Gopal announced his resignation. His term of service began in December 2022, and he left after about a year. Only one member is now serving in Punjab, aside from the chairperson, as there is currently an opening for a member secretary.

Some developers claim that for more than a year, their files have been collecting dust in the RERA office. "I have been going to the RERA office to get a registration number for the past year, but in vain," stated a prominent Mohali developer who wished to remain anonymous. The process of obtaining RERA licenses for numerous housing developments has been tremendously delayed. Dues, including external development costs, have not been paid by realtors to the government's housing department due to the lack of a regulatory body.

According to a RERA officer who asked to remain anonymous, Punjab's RERA lacks executives or recovery officers who would monitor builders' adherence to RERA regulations and payment of fines.

The president of the Punjab Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Jagjit Singh Majha, stated: "The real estate sector is suffering as a result of the state government's failure to select an active chairperson and member secretary.

Majha's worries were also expressed by Harish Gupta, head of the Zirakpur Builders Association: "A large number of illegal colonies have mushroomed in Mohali district due to the lack of an effective regulatory authority." He stated, "We ask the authorities to establish a timeframe for resolving the outstanding cases and to name a chairperson and member secretary right away.

According to Anurag Verma, chief secretary-cum-administrative secretary of housing and urban development in Punjab, applications for the position of member secretary have been received and will be forwarded to the relevant authorities for clearance. To invite applications for the chairperson position, we shall write to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. We hope it's finished soon," he said.

Over the past ten years, Mohali—along with its outlying regions of Zirakpur, Kharar, and New Chandigarh (Mullanpur)—has seen tremendous development. The area has grown to be a well-known real estate destination with some 600 residential and commercial projects, especially with the continuing IT City and Aero City projects on the Airport Road, which are led by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).