Gurugram RERA warns Real Estate Agents to mend ways regarding arbitrary brokerage

The Voice of Chandigarh News: Gurugram RERA has warned real estate agents to mend their ways over arbitrary brokerage. A day after the quorum gets completed it comes heavily in on the real estate agents over arbitrary brokerage issuing warnings to them to mend their ways. The real estate regulatory authority’s warning comes in the wake of a number of complaints mushrooming on a daily basis in the city and lands up in the authority where the cheated buyers or allottees turn up for relief.

The authority said that the Haryana Regulation of Property Dealers and Consultants Rules, 2009 provides charging of only half percent commission each from the buyers and the sellers.

The Authority in one of its decisions it passed on September 1, 2022, disallowed the brokerage of more than half percent which is currently being deducted by the promoters on surrendering of the units by the allottees.

“The authority has decided to fix this problem and working on it blacklisting such agents who have been charging brokerage arbitrarily,” said Dr. K.K Khandelwal, Gurugram RERA Chairman.

Khandelwal said arbitrary brokerage is an offence as apparently defined in the RERA Act yet the agents or brokers have continued adopting this malpractice in defiance of the RERA Act, which is punishable.

“We will revoke, blacklist and debar agents or brokers who have committed the offence of exorbitant commissions in contravention of the rule,” said the Chairman adding that the Authority has decided to come heavily on such malpractices adopted by the Real Estate Agents and brokers to exploit allottees in the name of charging arbitrarily high brokerage.

While disallowing the arbitrary brokerage, the authority on Wednesday issued a warning to all 1840 registered Real Estate Agents over arbitrary brokerage that they charge from innocent sellers and property buyers.

It is worth noting that the Authority has received many complaints where it found the real estate agents have apparently been charging more than half percent from the sellers and the buyers which is a clear case of defiance of statutory provisions of rule 1 of the Haryana Regulation of Property Dealers and Consultants 2009. The Rule provides for the commission of half percent of the agreed consideration value by sellers and purchasers on the finalization of the deal.

It has also come to the notice of the Authority that some of the Real Estate Agents are indulging in the sale of plots or apartments in the projects which are not registered with the Authority otherwise registrable.

Authority noticed malpractice in the Real Estate Agents in Gurugram where even on the issuance of letter of intent the brokers enter into an arrangement with the promoters and block a number of units that are assigned to such brokers for concluding deals in the market with the allottees even at such time when the project is not registered.
“On account of it, the large number of allottees get cheated by brokers as before the registration neither the sanctioned plans are available nor the specifications of the project are known to buyers,” RERA said.

The authority said just on presumptions such deals are concluded and later on when the promised facilities and services are not found and the allottees then are left in the lurch. The Authority has declared such malpractice by both the promoter as well as Real Estate Agent as an unfair trade practice and penal action is in offing in such cases.
It has also come to the notice of the Authority that the brokers in such projects falsely represent that the services are of a particular standard or grade and also misrepresentation is made that the promoter has all necessary approvals for the sale of such units.

“We have noticed brokers sent emails to lure buyers to buy property in projects which are not even registered, while real estate agents are required to give all information pertaining to the project along with valid documents so that at the time of booking or concluding the deal of any plot or apartment the allottee is well-informed so that he can have a choice whether to invest in a project or not. The registration of such brokers is likely to be revoked and such brokers may be blacklisted,” said the RERA Chairman.