Real estate promoters in the State have been cautioned not to misuse the ‘'RERA’ acronym, or use it inaccurately, in their advertisements.
The Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) has issued a direction in this regard after noticing real estate advertisements in the public domain bearing the claim ‘RERA-approved’ or ‘RERA-registered’ without providing any details whatsoever of the registration.
It has also come to the notice of the State-level regulator that the registration process for some of these projects at least are not yet complete. According to a K-RERA official, many ads of this nature are found on social media platforms, which prompt the authority to come out with a direction in this regard.
Section 11(2) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, will require the promoter of any real estate project to prominently mention the registration number issued by the authority.
The promoter could be penalised under Section 61 of the Act if this requirement is not met. The authority has also barred promoters from using ‘RERA-approved' in their ads, as the authority does not “approve” any project, but ‘registers’ it as per the provisions of the Act.
All advertisements and prospectuses, including online ones, should mention the registration number in the format ‘K-RERA Registration number: K-RERA/PRJ/--/--.’
Projects that have been completed and issued occupancy certificates/development certificates before January 1, 2020, do not require registration with K-RERA. The ads on such projects should prominently mention ‘K-RERA Registration not required - Occupancy Certificate received before January 1, 2020’, K-RERA officials say.
