Synopsis:
The
Real Estate Agency of India passed the Real Estate Regulatory and Authority
(RERA) Act in March 2016. This act has been made in accordance to increasing
complaints against the builders or promoters and the real estate agents. These
complaints are mainly regarding the late possession of a house to the buyer,
faults in the society, irresponsible behaviour of promoters after the signing
of the agreement and many such issues. RERA is a government body whose sole
purpose is to safeguard the interest of buyers as well as lay a path so that
the promoters and the real estate agents get a chance to come up with good
services. The present structure of real sector is quite messy as corruption in
the government bodies and opaqueness of the information is there. The policies
in RERA have been made keeping in mind that due to the lack of activeness in
the government work such as approval of a project, many promoters have to seek
an unfair way to continue their work so that their massive investment in a
project does not get lost. Also, the Real Estate Agency is establishing Central
Agency Council and Real Estate Appellate Tribunal with RERA so as to bring in a
level of confidence in buyers for the builders and the agents and also to
punish the defaulters.
The
thing is, there are several government rules and regulations which, if made
aware properly to the general public, then many things will get proper
transparency and discipline. RERA Consultants is one such advisory body whose
purpose is to guide the people related to real estate in an organised manner.
Even though the guidelines laid by RERA for promoters and real estate agents
are very basic and affective, the general public needs a platform where they can
be made aware of their particular rights. RERA Consultants is that platform
which has done thorough research on the official rule book of RERA released by
the government. The promoters, buyers and the agents can come up here for a
jovial coordination among themselves. We offer consulting services to the
promoters and the agents to get registered under RERA. Apart from that, our
public forums and interactions will also prove beneficial for everybody. Real
estate is a very important sector for a country’s growth and the current status
is really bad with every day hundreds of complaints being lodged against
different bodies of real estate. It is of great importance that a buyer starts
to trust an agent and a builder so that a proper passage of business can take
place.
Salient Features
1) It establishes the State Real Estate Regulatory Authority for that particular state as the government body to be approached for redressal of grievances against any builder. This will happen once every state ratifies this Act and establishes a state authority on the lines set up in the law.
2) This law vests authority on the real estate regulator to govern both residential and commercial real estate transactions.
3) This Act obliges the developer to park 70% of the project funds in a dedicated bank account. This will ensure that developers are not able to invest in numerous new projects with the proceeds of the booking money for one project, thus delaying completion and handover to consumers.
1) It establishes the State Real Estate Regulatory Authority for that particular state as the government body to be approached for redressal of grievances against any builder. This will happen once every state ratifies this Act and establishes a state authority on the lines set up in the law.
2) This law vests authority on the real estate regulator to govern both residential and commercial real estate transactions.
3) This Act obliges the developer to park 70% of the project funds in a dedicated bank account. This will ensure that developers are not able to invest in numerous new projects with the proceeds of the booking money for one project, thus delaying completion and handover to consumers.
4) This law
makes it mandatory for developers to post all information on issues such as
project plan, layout, government approvals, land title status, sub contractors
to the project, schedule for completion with the State Real Estate Regulatory
Authority (RERA) and then in effect pass this information on to the consumers.
5) The current practice of selling on the basis of ambiguous super built-up area for a real estate project will come to a stop as this law makes it illegal. Carpet area has been clearly defined in the law.
6) Currently, if a project is delayed, then the developer does not suffer in any way. Now, the law ensures that any delay in project completion will make the developer liable to pay the same interest as the EMI being paid by the consumer to the bank back to the consumer.
7) The maximum jail term for a developer who violates the order of the appellate tribunal of the RERA is three years with or without a fine.
5) The current practice of selling on the basis of ambiguous super built-up area for a real estate project will come to a stop as this law makes it illegal. Carpet area has been clearly defined in the law.
6) Currently, if a project is delayed, then the developer does not suffer in any way. Now, the law ensures that any delay in project completion will make the developer liable to pay the same interest as the EMI being paid by the consumer to the bank back to the consumer.
7) The maximum jail term for a developer who violates the order of the appellate tribunal of the RERA is three years with or without a fine.
8) The buyer can contact the
developer in writing within one year of taking possession to demand after sales
service if any deficiency in the project is noticed.
9) The developer cannot make any
changes to the plan that had been sold without the written consent of the
buyer. This puts paid to a common and unpopular practice by developers to
increase the cost of projects.
10) Lastly, every project measuring
more than 500 square metres or more than eight apartments will have to be
registered with the RERA.
Regards,
Kunal R.
Sarpal
