K-RERA warns builders who do not provide basic facilities

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) has taken the task of the builder for not providing the necessary basic facilities to the apartment and not properly maintaining it and not serving the residents there.

For the first time, it has ordered to hand over the entire fund of Rs 62.26 lakh earmarked for the maintenance of 'K-Rera' apartments to the Resident Welfare Association (RWA). This order of Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority is a cautionary lesson for other builders.

Because, there are thousands of apartments in Bangalore city and many of them are managed by builders. On the other hand, apartment dwellers are managing themselves by forming associations. Wherever maintenance is done by builders, monthly maintenance fee is collected from the apartment dwellers. However, it is not managed accordingly. So, in most of the apartments, there are frequent arguments and fights between the builder and the residents.

Shree Senior Homes has developed a 'Sharadindu State-3' housing project near Ranganakoppalu village near Pandavapura in Mandya district. Most of the senior citizens lived there. Since 2016, the builder was collecting management fee and managing it himself. However, after the formation of the Apartment Residents Welfare Association (RWA) in 2022, they stopped managing it. Before that they used to collect maintenance fee of Rs 4.50 per square feet. Due to this, a lot of money was accumulated in the revolving fund.

However, the builder is not maintaining it properly and many amenities including push button, intercom, swimming pool, hobby room have not been provided. In addition, Senior Commune Owners' Association 'K-Rera' complained that the money in the fund was not being transferred to the association.

Hearing the complaint, the bench headed by the chairman of the authority, Dr HC Kishorechandra, ordered that the builder should complete the housing project within 60 days as agreed and provide all the amenities and collect and transfer the funds kept in the fund to the association.

Also, it is said that the entire housing project is still in progress. Although the project was approved in 2012, it has not yet been completed. The developer has not yet handed over the undivided share of the common area to RWA. Also, many infrastructures are yet to be created. So, it directed the builder Shree Senior Homes to complete the project immediately.

Besides, 'K-Rera' has also taken up the association of unregistered residents. In case the housing project is delayed, stopped or cancelled, the RWA can approach RERA to take over the project itself. The order explained that only RWAs registered under cooperative societies have such authority and can undertake housing projects.