Last Updated on July 24, 2024 by Satish Mishra

Post covers powers of Adjudicating Officer RERA (AO) at Panchkula Haryana RERA Authority and  Punjab RERA. Sole claims of compensation entertained after Newtech judgment and refund-interest prayer not to be nixed.

Due to the rapid growth of the Indian economy and the continuous migration of people from rural to urban areas, the need of housing increased at a rapid pace. This shift had a positive effect on the Real Estate sector, and with the continuous growth in the real estate sector purchasing homes became more and more difficult due to the immoral and unethical practices of the Real Estate dealers. In a response to the situation the Indian Government introduced the Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Act, 2016, which sought to bring in discipline and transparency in the Real Estate sector of the country.

Adjudicating Officer RERA

An Adjudicating Officer is a quasi-judicial person who resolves disputes under the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 (RERA). The Adjudicating Officer can be a district judge or an officer of a higher rank, such as an Additional District Magistrate. The State Government notifies the Adjudicating Officer for adjudication in a manner prescribed by the Central Government. For example, Section 71(1) of the RERA Act states that the adjudicating authority can decide compensation alone.

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The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act has mandated many things to streamline the process of purchase and sale of real estate such as, the act requires to establish the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, in every State and UT, to regulate and promote the Real Estate sector, the Act mandates for all commercial and residential projects whose area is above 500 square meters or any property on which more than 8 apartments are made, to be registered  with the Real Estate Regulating Authority, in order to provide transparency in project making and execution of the said project, without the said registrations the dealers cannot sell the property, All dealers need to upload details of the project to the RERA website, these details include the types of apartments or plots, registration information, list of approvals taken and those remaining, the layout plan, sanction plan, and the status of the project.

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With the implementation of RERA act there has been benefits to both the side viz. the developers as well as the buyers. Before RERA the manner by which a builder calculated the price of a project wasn’t defined. However, with RERA there is now a standard formula that is used to calculate carpet area. This way, dealers cannot provide inflated carpet areas to increase prices. As per the rules, a builder cannot take more than 10% of the cost of the project from the buyer as advance or application fees. This saves the buyer from having to source funds fast and having to pay a large amount.

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The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 also provides with the creation of an Appellate Tribunal, the act requires that state/UTs shall establish Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals from the decisions, directions or orders of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. Any person not satisfied with any direction or decision or order made by the Authority or by an adjudicating officer may file an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal and the appeal shall dispose within a period of sixty days. The appointment of the Adjudicating officer is done under section 71 of Real Estate (Regulation And Development) Act, 2016 which states that, “For the purpose of adjudging compensation under sections 12,14,18 and 19 the authority shall appoint in consultation with the appropriate government one or more judicial officer as deemed necessary who is or has been a district judge to be an adjudicating officer for holding an inquiry in the prescribed manner after giving any person concerned a reasonable opportunity of being heard.”

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The Adjudicating officer has many powers on his/her disposal such as, the Adjudicating officer has the power to either accept or reject the application filed by an aggrieved party for the violation of any RERA act or RERA rules. The adjudicating officer has the power to decide the amount of compensation to be paid by a party if any. The Adjudicating office has the power to grant compensation if, Incorrect or false information contained in any notice or advertisement or prospectus or model pertaining to any real estate project or property on the basis of which buyer has made any advance or deposit to the builder, if any Structural defect or any other defect in workmanship, quality or provision of services or any other obligation of builder/promoter as the agreement of sale that causes loss or damage to the buyer, if there is any delay in providing the possession of the property.

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However, Section 72 of RERA defines certain things to be kept in mind by the Adjudicating officer while providing the amount of compensation under section 71. the factors to be kept in mind, stated in S.72 are- 1) Amount of disproportionate gain by default, 2) Amount of loss by default, 3) Repetitive nature of default, 4) Any other factor which the Adjudicating officer deems fit.

Also Read- How to Get Compensation from Adjudicating Officer

For case specific advice, please contact top best expert RERA Panchkula RERA Punjab Haryana RERA Appellate Authority Punjab RERA Appellate Authority in Chandigarh Mohali.

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