Lots of gaps to be fixed still; homebuyers will have to wait longer to get relief under RERA
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) was implemented on May 1 last year and state governments and Union territories (UTs) were required to establish a regulatory authority by May 1 this year. It stipulated deadlines to be met by governments of states and UTs. However, many states are behind schedule. A look at the deadlines that have passed and the ones that need to be met:
NOTIFYING THE RULES
From the date of its implementation (May 1, 2016), RERA required all state governments to notify their rules within 6 months, i.e., October 31, 2016. However, till April 30, 2017, only a few states had notified the rules. The central government was required to notify rules for UTs. While 59 sections under the Act were notified on 26 April last year, the remaining 32 clauses were notified by the Centre as late as April 19 this year.
ESTABLISHING THE AUTHORITY
RERA stipulates that regulatory authorities had to be set up by April 30, 2017. However, till now, none of the state governments or UTs has established a permanent regulatory authority. The Act empowers the appropriate governments to designate any officer as an interim regulatory authority till a fullfledged authority is established. According to the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation, as on May 1, 2017, 13 states and UTs have created interim regulatory authorities. These include Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Haryana, Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Chandigarh. Many others are in advanced stages of finalising such authorities. These include Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tripura, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu.
APPELLATE TRIBUNAL
The Act also mandates that states to establish a real estate appellate tribunal. The deadline for this was April 30, 2017. However, till now, it is not in place. The tribunal is important because in case homebuyers are not satisfied with the decision of an authority, they can approach the appellate tribunal.
REGISTRATION OF PROJECTS
The central Act requires developers to get all ongoing projects that have not received completion certificate registered with the regulatory authorities before July 31, 2017. However, many states have diluted this. For instance, the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have excluded registration of ongoing projects where services have been handed over to the local authorities or to the residents’ welfare associations for maintenance. Maharashtra requires a developer to register only the “phase of the project” for which occupancy or completion certificate has not been received.
REGISTRATION OF ESTATE AGENTS
Real estate agents are also required to get registered with the authority before July 31, 2017. According to the Act, a ‘real estate agent’ is anyone who acts on behalf of one person in a transaction of plot, apartment or building and receives a remuneration as commission or otherwise.
WEB-BASED SYSTEM
According to Act, within a year of the establishment of a regulatory authority, there needs to be a web-based online system for various purposes. A few states like Maharashtra have set up these websites, but even here, all the required information is not available.