Giving relief to the real estate developers, the Uttarakhand Government has waived off the penalty imposed under Uttarakhand Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules – RERA, 2017 on the delayed registrations till February 28 this year. A decision in this respect was taken in the meeting of State Cabinet held on Wednesday. Under RERA there is a provision of penalties ranging from 1 percent to 10 per of total project cost on delayed registration. The urban development Minister and Government spokesman Madan Kaushik said that the builders who have taken the penalty money from the buyers should refund the amount as the Government would refund an amount of Rs 2.09 Crores deposited the builders as penalty. He informed that the builders registering under RERA after March 01 to March 31 would have to pay a penalty of 1 percent of the project cost. The penalty amount would increase to 2 percent during the month of April; similarly a penalty of 5 percent of the project cost would be levied from May 1 to May 31. The penalty would increase to 10 percent from June 1 onwards. Only 200 builders have so far registered themselves under RERA. The Minister said that the District Magistrates (DMs) have been directed to ensure that all real estate developers and the builders are registered under RERA. The relief of the Government is aimed at soothing the frayed nerves of the builders who were opposing certain provisions under the act. The move is also expected to provide an impetus to otherwise sluggish property market in the State.
In another important decision, the Cabinet also waived off penalty on filing of annual returns by the traders. Kaushik said that the accepting the demand of the traders after implementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST), the Government has decided that no penalty would be imposed on filing of returns till March 31, 2018. The last date to file returns was December 31, 2017.
The cabinet also decided to give the benefit of VII Pay commission to the permanent employees of Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC) under the department of Science and Technology. The centre has 43 sanctioned posts out of which only 15 are filled at present. The move would impose an additional burden of Rs 13.28 lakh on the state exchequer.
A decision to waive of stamp duty worth Rs 28.55 lakh for Swami Vivekananda Dharmarth Trust hospital Shimla Byepass was also one of the decision the cabinet took on the day.
The cabinet also approved the service rules and regulation for Uttarakhand Assistant Development officer and Assistant district Panchayati Raj officers.