HOMEBUYERS LEFT IN LURCH IN MOST STATES

Only nine states and six union territories have notified Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017 to protect interest of homebuyers.

The central Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) was notified on May 1, 2016, and has come into effect nationwide from May 1, 2017.

However, land is a state subject and even after the Centre enacts a legislation, state governments have to ratify them.

The basic objective of the act is to protect the interest of consumers through a regulatory regime that improves the transparency level and accountability of real estate developers.

“For effective implementation of the provisions, the state governments had to frame rules governing these sections and set up state-level real estate regulatory authorities and appellate tribunals to implement the rules. As on date, only seven states have notified the required rules, resulting in a lower compliance ratio to start with. The absence of a regulator or appropriate rules can result in a regulatory vacuum and dilution of the Act’s provisions,” said K. Ravichandran, senior VP and group head, corporate ratings at Icra.

Only AP, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, MP, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and UP are the states that have notified their respective rules.