Officials who delay projects can face action under new realty law

Builders say prices of homes could come down if approvals are sped up

Government officials who delay construction projects by refusing to clear builders’ files quickly can now face action under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA).

Experts said RERA will speed up approvals across the state. The news was welcomed by the real estate sector, which said projects drag on for years owing to such delays.

Gautam Chatterjee, interim chairman, RERA, said, “We will examine cases and if we find that officers are responsible for delays, we will pass strictures against them. We will forward cases to the authority concerned, who will take action against the guilty parties. The process will help us pinpoint who is responsible for the delay.”

The move is significant as builders had expressed concern that while they would be penalised under RERA for delivering houses late, there would be no clauses concerning officials who delayed clearances. They said this would be unjust as it would penalise them for reasons beyond their control.

Niranjan Hiranandani, managing director, Hiranandani Group, said the new law would make all stakeholders accountable. “The state government has addressed developers’ concerns. We hope that approvals will come faster now,” he said.

For years, delays in getting approvals have deterred the growth of the realty sector and, along with corruption in local government, have been cited as a major reason for high price of real estate. Until now, builders had to go to several agencies, from the civic body to the state government and the Centre, for approvals. Though deadlines were specified, most officials did not adhere to them and took years to approve projects, causing costs to rise.

Real estate experts said any move to improve the approvals process would ultimately benefit homebuyers.

“This will ensure that market supply rises and prices are kept under control. It will also reduce project costs,” said Anuj Puri, chairman, Jones Lang Lasalle (Residential), a real estate consultancy firm.

Ghulam Zia, executive director, Knight Frank India, said the move would spur the under-construction homes market, which has been in a lull for the past four years. “People will now have confidence to book such homes as they will be assured of timely delivery.”