Haryana RERA imposes penalty of ₹1.5 crore on developer for failing to register project in Gurugram

During the probe, HRERA discovered that the Gurugram project had already seen the sale of units to third parties without the necessary registrations

The Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (HRERA) of Gurugram has levied a penalty of ₹1.5 crore on M/s 1000 Trees Housing Private Limited, a city-based real estate promoter, for failing to register its ongoing project despite holding a licence for over twelve years. The licence was originally granted by the Department of Town and Country Planning, Haryana, in 2012.

The promoter has been found violating the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, by creating third-party rights in the project without the mandatory HRERA registration.

“We have imposed a penalty of ₹1.5 crore for non-registration of the project. This company belongs to a real estate group,” said Arun Kumar, chairman, HRERA, Gurugram.

A statement issued by HRERA Gurugram and shared by the district information department said that the penalty was imposed following a thorough scrutiny of the promoter’s application for project registration, which was submitted with the intention of completing the construction and handing over units to homebuyers. During the scrutiny, HRERA discovered that the project, despite being ongoing, had already seen the sale of units to third parties without the necessary HRERA registration.

The HRERA, Gurugram statement said that under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, it is mandatory for any promoter to register a project with HRERA before creating third-party rights or advertising the project. In this case, the Authority has conditionally approved the project registration, subject to the payment of late fees and the hefty penalty for violating the Act.

“A penalty of ₹1.5 crore is also imposed under Section 59 of the Act for non-registration of the ongoing project,” stated HRERA, citing the order.

Prior to this action, HRERA Gurugram said that the authority had issued a show-cause notice to the promoter, highlighting the lack of a completion, occupation, or part-occupation certificate for the project, which means the project does not qualify for exemption under Section 3(2) of the Act 2016 and Haryana Real Estate Rules.

It further said that M/s 1000 Trees Housing Private Limited is developing a group housing project named Sanctuary 105, located in Sector 105, Gurugram. The imposition of this penalty underscores HRERA’s commitment to enforcing compliance and protecting the rights of homebuyers within the real estate sector, it added.

When asked about the matter, a spokesperson for the developer denied the allegations and said, “The purported press release is entirely wrong and untrue. The company has not been informed about the issuance of any such release. At the outset, it appears that someone is running a mischievous campaign against the company. The company has already initiated legal proceedings to curb the spread of such misinformation. The company is fully compliant with any order issued in respect to the concerned project.”