TGRERA slaps Rs 18.5 Lakh penalty on Jubilee Hills Society for illegal real estate marketing
Hyderabad: The Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TGRERA) has imposed a hefty penalty of Rs 18.51 lakh on M/s Jubilee Hills Co-operative House Building Society Ltd. for advertising and collecting funds for an unregistered real estate project worth approximately Rs 90 crore.
TGRERA initiated suo motu proceedings against the cooperative society and M/s Verdant Builders and Developers Pvt. Ltd. following a complaint by D. K. Jyothi Prasad Kosaraju, an advocate and society member, on 28 January 2025.
The case centres around ‘Jubilee Hills Phase IV,’ a proposed 40-floor high-rise project with 1,910 units in Manchirevula Village, Ranga Reddy District, which was being promoted without mandatory RERA registration.
The investigation revealed multiple regulatory breaches. First, the society collected Rs 5 lakh as an advance from each of approximately 1,800 members, accumulating around Rs 90 crore without proper approvals from RERA or HMDA. Second, new members were allegedly forced to purchase flats worth Rs 2 crore each to gain admission to the society, violating cooperative bylaws. Lastly, the society issued promotional brochures and marketing materials for the unregistered project, directly contravening RERA regulations.
TGRERA exercised its powers under Section 35 of the RERA Act, which allows the authority to initiate proceedings independently to protect consumer interests. The violations specifically breach Section 3(1) of the RERA Act, which prohibits advertising and fund collection for unregistered projects exceeding 500 square metres or 8 units.
The accused parties attempted several defenses, including procedural objections about the complaint format and references to a pending High Court case that had stayed new member admissions. The Respondents have raised two preliminary objections contending that these proceedings are not maintainable. Firstly, that the representation before this Authority from a complainant who has already approached the High Court of Telangana, wherein an interim order has been passed, and hence this Authority ought to await the outcome of that writ petition. Secondly, that the representation does not qualify as a “complaint” under 6 since it was not filed in Form ‘M’ with the prescribed fee, and therefore the jurisdiction of this Authority is not validly invoked. However, TGRERA affirmed that suo motu proceedings don't require adherence to standard complaint procedures like Form 'M' submissions.
For violation of Sections 3 and 4 for non-registration of the project, the Promoter ‘M/s Jubilee Hills Co-Operative House Building Society Ltd.' represented by its President B. Ravindranath is liable for a penalty under Sections 59 and 60 respectively, and accordingly, a penalty of Rs. 18.5 lakh was imposed.
Beyond the financial penalty, TGRERA has completely barred the society from advertising, marketing, booking, selling, offering for sale, or inviting persons to purchase, in any manner whatsoever, any apartment, plot, or building in the real estate project 'Jubilee Hills – Phase IV' until such time as the project is duly registered with this authority and further compliance is assured. It has warned that non-compliance could attract additional penalties under Section 63, potentially reaching up to 5% of the project's estimated cost.