Hyderabad: In a first-of-its-kind move in Telangana, authorities have allowed homebuyers to complete stalled residential projects after the builder defaulted, invoking provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.Acting on directions from the Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TG RERA) and the municipal administration department, flat owners formed associations and stepped in to complete the remaining works in their projects. One such project has already been completed, while work on another is currently underway.The stalled projects were undertaken by Jayathri Infrastructures India Private Ltd. The company had launched the ‘Jaya Platinum’ residential project at Bowrampet village in Dundigal municipality, comprising 60 flats. It had also taken up another project, ‘Jaya Diamond’, at Bachupally with 83 flats, which also came to a halt in 2022. In the case of Jaya Diamond, only about 6% of the construction had been completed.Work on Jaya Platinum stopped in June 2022 after about 66% of the construction was completed. After repeated deadlines passed without progress, flat purchasers approached TG RERA seeking intervention.Following an inspection by the Engineering Staff College of India (ESCI), which confirmed that construction had stalled, RERA initiated action against the builder, imposed a penalty of Rs 2.36 crore for multiple violations, and revoked the project registration in April 2024.However, the matter did not end there. Flat owners who had already paid between 70% and 80% of the total cost approached the authority again seeking help to revive the project. The govt also directed the registration department not to register any flats by the builder and asked authorities to revoke the necessary permissions issued by the GHMC and HMDA.“As per Section 8 of the RERA Act, after revocation of the project, the authority may consult the state govt to carry out the remaining development work through a competent authority or by the association of allottees, or in any manner. Since the flat owners wanted to complete the remaining works by forming an association, the authority recommended it to the govt. Chief minister A Revanth Reddy, who is also municipal administration minister, approved the proposal to complete the remaining 34% works,” TG RERA chairman N Satyanarayana told TOI on Friday.Flat owners formed the JP Welfare Association and completed the project. “When the work stopped, we were all worried. TG RERA and the state govt helped to form an association and complete the work. Recently, we got the occupancy certificate from the HMDA, and we are planning a huge function on completion of the project,” Anil Kumar Vanteru of the association told TOI.Following the success of Jaya Platinum, buyers in the Jaya Diamond project also approached TG RERA seeking similar assistance about two years ago. In this case as well, the authority obtained a technical report from ESCI and informed the govt about the project’s status. Section 8 of the Act was again invoked to safeguard the interests of allottees and enable completion through an association under regulatory monitoring.“After getting all the approvals from the municipal administration department with the help of RERA, we conducted bhoomi puja for the work a few days ago,” Alladi Narasimha Rao of the Jaya Diamond Welfare Association told TOI.Officials said the intervention helped revive stalled projects, protecting the investments of hundreds of homebuyers. They said the govt would sympathetically consider revival of similar projects after taking action against errant builders and developers.Satyanarayana added, “TG RERA reiterates its commitment to strict implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, and assures homebuyers that decisive action will continue to be taken against defaulting promoters while facilitating lawful completion of projects in the larger public interest.”
