Ownership Record under RERA Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016

Under Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 for short RERA require a promoter to submit at the time of registration of the project, a copy of the title report of a practicing advocate reflecting the flow of title of the promoter to the land on which the development is proposed. Further, as a part of the documents to be uploaded on the website of the Authority, Mumbai, Delhi, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh require the promoter to provide a land title search report from an advocate having experience of at least 10 years in land related matters. The rules of the States require the promoter to declare the encumbrances, if any, including litigations on the land on which the development is proposed. In case if there is no encumbrance on the land on which the development is proposed, then in such cases, the rule of Uttar Pradesh requires a promoter to provide a non-encumbrance certificate through an advocate having experience of at least 10 years. The rules of Maharashtra and Delhi require a promoter to provide a nonencumbrance certificate through an advocate having experience of at least 10 years from the revenue authority not below the rank of tehsildar. However, the rules of Karnataka prescribe that a non-encumbrance certificate can be obtained from the concerned sub registrar having at least 12 years’ experience in land related matters. The rules of Haryana require a promoter to provide a non-encumbrance certificate through an advocate having experience of at least 10 years in land related matters as well as from the revenue authority not below the rank of tehsildar. The rules of Tamil Nadu require a promoter to provide an up-todate encumbrance certificate, extract/ certificate from the revenue authorities reflecting the title of the promoter to the land on which development is proposed. In Gujarat, if the promoter is not the owner of the land on which development is proposed then details of consent of the owner of the land along with a copy of the necessary agreement entered between the promoter and the owner of the land needs to be provided. Further, copies of title and other documents reflecting the title of the owner need to be provided. THE REGISTRATION FEE The Act requires every promoter to submit an application to the Authority for registration of his project with necessary documents along with a registration fee. As per the Act, the application has to be accompanied by such fee as may be specified by the regulations made by the Authority. The fee that promoters need to pay when applying for registration varies across states. In Maharashtra, the promoter shall pay a registration fee by way of online transfer for a sum calculated at `10 per square metre of the area of the land, subject to a minimum of `50,000 and a maximum of `1,000,000. In Delhi, however, the registration fee can be paid only through a demand draft drawn on any scheduled bank. The registration fee in Delhi is also higher than in Maharashtra. In Delhi, there is a distinction between commercial projects, group housing projects and mixed-development projects with regards to registration fee. In case of a commercial project: `20 per square metre, if land area is less than 1,000 square metres. `25 for every square metre, if land area exceeds 1,000 square metres, but not more than `1,000,000. i. In case of a group housing project: `5 per square metre, if land area is less than 1,000 square metres. `10 for every square metre, if land area exceeds 1,000 square metres, but not more than `500,000. ii. In case of a mixed-development project (residential and commercial): `10 per square metre, if land area is less than 1,000 square metres. `15 for every square metre, if land area exceeds 1,000 square metres, but not more than `700,000. iii. In case of a plotted-development project: `5 per square metre but shall not be more than `200,000. Even Uttar Pradesh makes a distinction between registration fee for residential and commercial projects but the rates vary from Delhi. In Uttar Pradesh as well, the registration fee has to be paid by a demand draft drawn on a nationalised or scheduled bank. The registration fee in Uttar Pradesh is as follows: i. `10 per square metre for residential or any other projects where the area of land proposed to be developed does not exceed 1,000 square metres; and `500 for every 100 square metres where the area of land proposed to be developed exceeds 1,000 square metres. ii. `20 per square metre for commercial projects where the area of land to be developed does not exceed 1,000 square metres; and `1,000 for every 100 square metre of land where the area of land to be developed exceeds 1,000 square metres. In Haryana, the promoter shall pay the below registration fee per square metre of land area by way of a demand draft or a banker’s cheque drawn on any scheduled bank or through online payment mode, as the case may be: