Relief for the real estate sector: the Center asks states to extend deadlines for RERA projects by 6 months

The Union government said today it will advise state governments and Union Territories to extend the deadlines for RERA projects by six months to provide some relief to the real estate sector.

At a press conference today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has decided to extend the registration and completion dates for real estate projects under RERA.

She said that due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the national blockade, real estate projects are at risk of missing RERA deadlines.

“The deadlines should be extended. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will advise the states / UT and their regulatory authorities to treat Covid-19 as a ‘Force Majeure’ (Act of God) event under RERA,” said Nirmala Sitharaman.

He said states and UTs will be recommended to extend the suo-moto registration and completion date by six months for all registered projects expiring as of March 25, 2020 without individual applications.

“Regulatory authorities can extend this for another period of up to three months, if necessary,” he said.

Nirmala Sitharaman said the authorities are free to issue new ‘Project Registration Certificates’ automatically with revised deadlines. They can also extend deadlines for multiple statutory compliance under RERA at the same time, he said.

The minister said: “These measures will de-stress real estate developers and ensure completion of projects so that buyers can receive their reserved homes with new deadlines.”

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