How Real Estate Act Or RERA Can Help Home Buyers

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 or RERA which came into effect on Monday in 13 states and union territories aimed at bringing more transparency in the sector. However, out of the 13 states, only seven states - Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharasthra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar - have so far notified with rules. Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that the law will make "buyer the king" and the developers will also benefit from the "increased buyers' confidence in the regulated environment". "The developers must fulfil their promises...simply adhere to the promises made in the advertisement," Mr Naidu added.

The Housing Ministry had last year notified the rules for five Union Territories - Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep, while the Urban Development Ministry came out with such rules for the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi.

The Real Estate Act can help the home buyers to choose a project wisely. Here are the few aspects that may help the buyers:

* The developers will now have to get the ongoing projects that have not received completion certificate and the new projects registered with regulatory authorities. This will save the buyers from getting cheated by fraudsters.

* Besides mandatory registration of projects and real estate agents, some of the other provisions include depositing 70 per cent of the funds collected from buyers in a separate bank account for construction of the project. It will assure that the funds are withdrawn by the developers for the construction purposes only.

* The RERA, aiming to make "buyer the king", will ensure that there are no stalled project that can harass them.

* The RERA also plays important function of acting upon complaints against the promoters, and this protection for consumers can also be weakened in case of any delay in setting up the RERA, says the rating agency ICRA.

* If the RERA does not reject the application for registration within 30 days, the project would be deemed to be registered.

* Rights and obligations of buyers, developers and real estate agents are clearly defined in the Act and any aggrieved party can seek redressal for violation of the terms of agreement by the other party.

* In case of project delays, the onus of paying the monthly interest on bank loans taken for under-construction flats will lie on developers unlike earlier, when the burden fell on home buyers, said real estate service provider JLL India CEO and Country Head Ramesh Nair.

Industry bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO said the implementation of this law will bring paradigm change in the way Indian real estate functions. They expect property demand to rise but supply may get affected in the near term.

(With PTI inputs)