Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016
The Real Estate Act, 2016 is an Act of the Parliament of India which seeks to protect home-buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate industry. The Act establishes a Real Estate Regulatory Authority in each state for regulation of the real estate sector and also acts as an adjudicating body for speedy dispute resolution. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 10 March 2016 and by the Lok Sabha on 15 March 2016. The Act came into force on 1 May 2016 with 59 of 92 sections notified. Remaining provisions came into force on 1 May 2017. The Central and state governments are liable to notify the Rules under the Act within a statutory period of six months.
History
Real Estate Regulatory Authority was introduced by the UPA 2 government in 2013. In December 2015, the Union Cabinet of India had approved 20 major amendments to the bill based on the recommendations of a Rajya Sabha committee that examined the bill. The Bill had been referred to a selection committee, which had given its report in July 2015. However, Congress, Left and AIADMK had expressed their reservations on the report through dissent notes. The bill got approval of the Rajya Sabha on 10 March 2016 and by the Lok Sabha on 15 March 2016.
Provisions
Registration
The Real Estate Act makes it mandatory for all commercial and residential real estate projects where the land is over 500 square metres, or eight apartments, to register with the Real Estate Regulatory for launching a project, in order to provide greater transparency in project-marketing and execution. For ongoing projects which have not received completion certificate on the date of commencement of the Act, will have to seek registrations within 3 months. Application for registration must be either approved or rejected within a period of 30 days from the date of application by the RERA. On successful registration, the promoter of the project will be provided with a registration number, a login id, and password for the applicants to fill up essential details on the website of the RERA. For failure to register, a penalty of up to 10 percent of the project cost or three years' imprisonment may be imposed. Real estate agents who facilitate selling or purchase of properties must take prior registration. Such agents will be issued a single registration number for each State or Union Territory, which must be quoted by the agent in every sale facilitated by him.
Protection of buyers
The Act prohibits unaccounted money from being pumped into the sector and as of now 70 per cent of the money has to be deposited in bank accounts through cheques is now compulsory. A major benefit for consumers included in the Act is that builders will have to quote prices based on carpet area not super built-up area, while carpet area has been clearly defined in the Act to include usable spaces like kitchen and toilets. Under Rera, its mandatory for the builders to disclose the carpet area.
Real Estate Regulatory Authority and Appellate Tribunal
It will help to establish state-level Real Estate Regulatory Authorities to regulate transactions related to both residential and commercial projects and ensure their timely completion and handover. Appellate Tribunals will now be required to adjudicate cases in 60 days as against the earlier provision of 90 days and Regulatory Authorities to dispose of complaints in 60 days while no time-frame was indicated in earlier Bill...
RERA Rules
The Act under S.84 contemplates that within 6 months of the RERA Act being enforced, State Governments shall make rules for carrying out the provisions of the Act. The said Rules are to be notified by some of the State Government. As late as 31 October 2016, Central Government, released the Real Estate Rules, 2016, vide Notification by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation. The Rules so issued by the Central Government are applicable to the five Union Territories without Legislature viz., Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep, and Chandigarh. The Rules have been issued after the prior release of Draft for comments. As of 13 July 2019, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Nagaland have not notified the Rules. In the case of five north-eastern states, the RERA Act is facing certain constitutional challenges as the land in those states are community owned. West Bengal notified a similar law called the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulatory Act, 2017, which came into effect from 1 June 2018. However, as of July 2019, many of the states have not implemented the law in its true letter and spirit and failed to notify a Permanent Regulator, Appellate Authority or a website. A chart showing the implementation status by different states as of July 2019 can be seen .
