No occupancy certificate without RERA registration: Odisha Govt

In a vital development in the property market in Odisha, the State Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Department has barred promoters and builders to obtain occupancy certificates for their housing projects if the same has not been approved by RERA.

In a notice, the H&UD department wrote, “It has been brought to notice of the government through ORERA that, some developers/builders are avoiding to register their real estate projects with ORERA as required under Sec. 3 (2) (a) of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016.”

The law states that if the area of land proposed to be developed exceeds 500 sq. meters or the number of apartment proposed to be developed exceeds eight inclusive of all phases, then the developer has to register with the RERA.

The Government in MUD Department in consultation with PR&DW Department has formulated the following guidelines on issuance of Completion Certificate or Occupancy Certificate:

1. The ULBs/DAs/SPAs/RITs have to issue Completion Certificate or Occupancy Certificate only after registration of the projects with ORERA, if the area of land proposed to be developed exceeds 500 sq. meters or the number of apartment proposed to be developed exceeds eight inclusive of all phases as required under Sec. 3 (2) (a) of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016.

2. In absence of separate planning and Building Standard Rules/ Regulations for rural areas the BDOs should follow the procedure for issuance of completion certificate or occupancy certificate to deal with the Technical Sanction outside the jurisdiction of Development Authorities / Regional Improvement Trusts/ Special Planning Authorities, as outlined in the Section-17 and Section - 60,61 and 62 of the Odisha Special Planning Authorities and Regional Improvement trusts Common Planning and Building Standard Rules, 2017.