Hyderabad: Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TG RERA) has imposed a ₹98 lakh penalty on the promoter of Chabbras Bentley Woods at Jeedimetla for allegedly advertising and selling villas without registering the project. It also directed the promoter to refund ₹20 lakh collected from a buyer within 30 days.In its Aug 24 order, TG RERA restrained promoter Ramesh Kumar Chabbra from marketing Bentley Woods as a villa project, noting that its RERA registration was only for a plotted layout.Complainant P Krishna Reddy said the project was promoted as an integrated development of 44 villas across about 2.7 acres, with amenities including a 7,100 sq ft clubhouse, swimming pool and gated security. He booked a villa for ₹3.8 crore and paid ₹20 lakh as advance in Oct 2024.Reddy alleged that the villa was initially represented as having 5,068 sq ft of built-up area, but was later said to have about 3,900 sq ft, with the balance treated as a 30% open-space charge.Chabbra disputed the allegations, claiming individual GHMC permissions had been obtained for plots below 500 sq metres, exempting them from registration under Section 3(2)(a) of the RERA Act. He also claimed that only ₹5 lakh had been paid.TG RERA rejected the objections, holding that the common layout, amenities and 44 units constituted a single project. It termed the use of individual permissions to split the development a “stratagem” to avoid registration. The overall layout measured 12,770 sq metres, it noted.The authority also relied on the registered agreement and a legal notice to establish that ₹20 lakh had been paid. It held that subsequently including setback or open-yard areas in the represented built-up area amounted to material misrepresentation under Section 12.The promoter was directed to pay ₹98 lakh to the TG RERA Fund for violating Section 3(1), besides refunding ₹20 lakh to the buyer. Failure to comply could invite further action under Section 63.
