Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016: Rajya Sabha today, 10th March 2016 approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill,2016 that seeks to protect the interests of the large number of aspiring house buyers while at the same time enhancing the credibility of construction industry by promoting transparency, accountability and efficiency in execution of projects. The Bill seeks to put in place an effective regulatory mechanism for orderly growth of the sector which is the second largest employer after agriculture. Moving the Bill pending in Rajya Sabha since 2013 for further consideration and passing, Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu stated that over the years the sector has acquired a degree of notoriety which needs to be addressed to enable enhanced flow of investments, for which the Government has announced several incentives in the Budget for 2016-17 and earlier.
Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016 Highlights:
- The Government has gone beyond the recommendation of the Select Committee and now requiring developers to deposit 70% of the collections form buyers in a separate accounts towards the cost of construction including that of land as against a minimum of 50% suggested by the Select Committee;
- Norms for registration of projects has been brought down to plot area of 500 sq.mts or 8 apartments as against 4,000 sq.mt proposed in the draft Bill in 2013 and 1,000 sq.mts or 12 apartments suggested by the Standing Committee;
- Commercial real estate also brought under the ambit of the Bill and projects under construction are also required to be registered with the Regulatory Authority. About 17,000 projects are reported to be at various stages of development;
- Capret area has been clearly defined which forms the basis for purchase of houses, eliminating any scope for any malpractices in transactions
- Ending the earlier asymmetry which was in favour of developers, both consumers and developers will now have to pay same interest rate for any delays on their part;
- Liability of developers for structural defects have been increased from 2 to 5 years and they can’t change plans without the consent of two thirds of allottees;
- The Bill provides for arranging Insurance of Land title, currently not available in the market which benefits both the consumers and developers if land titles are later found to be defective;
- Specific and reduced time frames have been prescribed for disposal of complaints by the Appellate Tribunals and Regulatory Authorities; and
- A provision is now made for imprisonment of up to 3 years for developers and up to one year in case of real estate agents and consumers for any violation of Tribunals and Regulatory Authorities.
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