A national consultation
on draft real estate (development & regulation) is being organized by the
Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Govt of India today at Vigyan
Bhawan at Delhi. The consultation is expected to deliberate upon the recently
formulated Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Bill, 2011.
The Draft Real Estate
(Regulation & Development) Bill, 2011 seeks to establish a regulatory
oversight mechanism to enforce disclosure, fair practice and accountability
norms in the real estate sector, and to provide adjudication machinery for
speedy dispute redressal.
This Act is in pursuance
of the powers of Parliament to make laws on matters enumerated in the
Concurrent List namely, transfer of property other than agricultural land;
registration of deeds and documents, and contracts including partnerships,
agency, contracts of carriage, and other special forms of contracts, but not
including contracts relating to agricultural land.
The Bill aims at
restoring confidence of the general public in the real estate sector; by
instituting transparency and accountability in real estate and housing
transactions. Currently, the real estate
and housing sector is largely unregulated and opaque, with consumers often
unable to procure complete information, or enforce accountability against
builders and developers in the absence of effective regulation. The sector, in recent years, has also emerged
as a source of black money and corruptions in the economy. The Bill is expected
to ensure greater accountability towards consumers, bring transparency and
fairness in transactions and reduce frauds and delays significantly. All of
these factors would make sizable dent in the corruption in this sector.
The Bill is also expected
to promote regulated and orderly growth through efficiency, professionalism and
standardization. It seeks to ensure consumer protection, without adding another
stage in the procedure for sanctions.
The salient features of the Draft Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Bill
are:
- Establishment of a ‘Real Estate Regulatory Authority’ in each State by the Appropriate Government (Centre for the UTs and State Governments in the case of the States), with specified functions, powers, and responsibilities to facilitate the orderly and planned growth of the sector;
- Mandatory registration of developers / builders, who intend to sell any immovable property, with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority as a system of accreditation;
- Mandatory public disclosure norms for all registered developers, including details of developer, project, land status , statutory approvals and contractual obligations;
- Obligations of promoters to adhere to approved plans and project specifications, and to refund moneys in cases of default;
- Obligation of allottee to make necessary payments and other charges agreed to under the agreement and payment of interest in case of any delay;
- Provision to compulsorily deposit a portion of funds received from the allottees in a separate bank account, to be used for that real estate project only;
- The Authority to act as the nodal agency to co-ordinate efforts regarding development of the real estate sector and render necessary advice to the appropriate Government to ensure the growth and promotion of a transparent, efficient and competitive real estate sector; as also establish dispute resolution mechanisms for settling disputes between promoters and allottees/ buyers;
- Authorities to comprise of one Chairperson and not less than two members having adequate knowledge and experience of the sector;
- Establishment of a ‘Real Estate Appellate Tribunal’ by the Central Government to hear appeals from the orders of the Authority and to adjudicate on disputes. Tribunal to be headed by a sitting or retired Judge of Supreme Court or Chief Justice of High Court with 4 judicial and at-least 4 administrative/technical members;
- Chairperson of the Tribunal to have powers to constitute Benches, for exercising powers of the Tribunal;
- Establishment of a Central Advisory Council to advise the Central Government on matters concerning implementation of the Act.
- Council to make recommendations on major questions of policy, protection of consumer interest and to foster growth and development of the real estate sector;
- Penal provisions to ensure compliance with orders of the Authority and Tribunal;
- Jurisdiction of Civil Courts barred on matters which the Authority or the Tribunal is empowered to determine;
- Both Centre and States to have powers to make rules over subjects specified in the Bill, and the Regulatory Authority to have powers to make regulations;
- Powers to Central Government to issue directions to States on matters specified in the Act have also been specified.
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