In a significant clarification, the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (KRERA) has ruled that real estate projects that applied for an Occupancy Certificate (OC) prior to the enforcement of the state RERA Act are not required to register with KRERA. This decision came during the adjudication of a dispute involving Hamilton Homes, a residential project by SJR Prime Corporation located in Electronic City, Bengaluru.
The case revolved around complaints filed by homebuyers who claimed that despite booking flats in the project years ago, many of them remained incomplete. Of the 359 flats, 120 units reportedly still lacked basic amenities like tiling, painting, and sanitary fittings. Furthermore, essential infrastructure, including water supply and sewage treatment systems, were reportedly not in place until 2018 — a year after the RERA Act was enacted.
A homebuyer, Balaji SR, who booked a flat in 2012, filed a complaint with KRERA, alleging that the project was incomplete and that it should be treated as an ongoing project and registered with KRERA. He argued that despite the developer obtaining the OC in May 2017, several key amenities were non-functional, and the developer had not handed over common area maintenance to the association.
The developer, however, countered these allegations by stating that the construction was completed in 2016, and the application for the OC was submitted in December of the same year. The OC was granted on May 17, 2017 — just two weeks after the RERA Act came into force on May 1, 2017.
KRERA’s Interpretation of the RERA Act
In its ruling dated April 2, 2025, KRERA emphasized that the timing of the OC application is crucial. Referring to a 2022 Karnataka High Court judgment in the case of Cambian Technologies Pvt Ltd vs KRERA, the Authority reiterated that projects which had either obtained completion certificates or applied for OCs before May 1, 2017, fall outside the jurisdiction of RERA.
KRERA stated, “In terms of sub Rule IV of Rule 4 of the Rules, those properties to which the applications are filed before the Competent Authority seeking occupancy certificate either partial or complete need not be registered with RERA.”
The Authority added, “If no registration is required with RERA, then RERA would not get any authority to entertain any complaint against any property to which an occupancy certificate is sought either partial or complete.”
KRERA dismissed the complaint on the grounds that the project had received its OC before the RERA Act came into force. It concluded that internal finishing works such as tiling and plumbing, which are often completed after sale, do not classify a project as ongoing under RERA norms.
This ruling serves as an important precedent for real estate developers and homebuyers, providing clarity on the interpretation of “ongoing projects” in relation to OC timelines and RERA applicability.
