Most states lag in implementation of Real Estate Act

Apart from Union Territories, only Gujarat, MP, Maharashtra and UP have notified the real estate rules.

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, apart from the Union Territories have notified the real estate rules. As regards Punjab and Uttarakhand, they have not been able to notify the rules because of the Assembly elections.

This month Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu held a meeting with chief secretaries Naidu, during the meeting, said there would not be any compromise with the spirit of the Act.

Fight for RERA, a group of prospective home buyers, is pushing the government for speedy implementation of the Act. The group has demanded that the Centre should ensure that the state governments do not dilute the provisions of the Act while framing rules.

Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, national convenor of Fight for RERA, Abhay Upadhyay said: “It is a matter of grave concern that many states are diluting the provisions of the Act, which was passed by Parliament to protect the rights of the consumers. We have conveyed our concern to the Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

For example, Upadhyay said, some states have notified incomplete rules compared to the set of rules provided in the Act. In some cases, like Gujarat, ongoing projects have been removed, whereas the Act clearly stipulates that ongoing projects would also be covered.

In case of MP and Rajasthan, the rules are a copy of the Draft Real Estate Rules uploaded by the Ministry of Urban Poverty Alleviation on 24 June 2016 and thus all gaping holes are there which were finally removed in the final Rules notified by the Ministry later on 31 October 2016.

“There should be uniformity as far as implementation of the Act is concerned. The provisions of the Act, finalised by the Centre, are pro- consumer and very good. These provisions should be there all over the country. Unless this uniformity is ensured, the Act cannot be implemented in letter and spirit,” Upadhyay added.

The RERA Act, which came into force in May last year, provides a speedy dispute resolution mechanism in case of default by the developers