RERA why the apathy?

THE REAL ESTATE (REGULATION AND DEVELOPMENT) ACT, 2016 is an act brought in to safe

guard the purchasers from being taken for a ride by the promoters. There were too many such instances around NCR which prompted the Central Government to bring in this law.

This law has been pronounced in 2016 and became a law in all the states with respective state promulgating their own Act. However, if one reads the main Act and the various state versions there is a certain amount of dilution by the state governments for the reasons best known to them.

To prevent money being misused it was mandated to set up Escrow accounts to keep the money in those accounts and only a part of the amount was allowed to be used by the promoter for construction based on certification by authorised persons like Chartered Engineer/Architect etc. This is one reason many a promoter is reluctant to Register his project with RERA.

RERA insists on submitting a list of products and makes/Brands that are proposed to be used in the construction and expects the promoter to use the same. However, what has been submitted by the promoter is not known to the buyers and the intended transparency is lost here.

One of the main criteria for qualifying for registration with respective state RERA is more than 8 flats or 500 Sq Mt land area on which development is taking place. Then how come most projects which fit into this norm are not registered with RERA. RERA though very powerful is understaffed. It is impossible to monitor development that is taking place in the entire state. What is more surprising is this body is under the aegis of the Ministry for Urban Development & Municipalities. Practically every building including an independent house is mandated to take planning permission from the Local body.

Under these circumstances why there is no integration between RERA & Respective local body, more so when both are under the same ministry. Every plan approval which qualifies for registration with RERA should be automatically shared to RERA by the local body. All guideline sheets issued to the promoter by the Local body should set a deadline for RERA registration in the guideline sheet and enforce it. 

Enforcement is much easier for a Local body as they mortgage 10% of the project size with themselves and no promoter can afford to lose the 10% of his project to the government. Occupation certificate which is given when the building is completed releases this 10%, but not having a RERA registration will compulsorily not make the promoter qualify for Occupation Certificate/No Objection Certificate/Completion Certificate (as they are called in different states)
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As usual the consumer education is little or negligible. Is a buyer really concerned about what is good for him, this is a million dollar question and leaves one wondering, is our Nation full of compromisers. Here is an Act brought out in the interest of the consumer / Home Buyer and they hardly ask the promoter any question regarding RERA registration and or easily convinced by the reply of the promoter. As long as the projects are getting completed, buyer is relatively safe, Alas if there is any Hiccup he will find it difficult to deal with the promoter who would be mightier by size.

Consumer should be able to check about the projects RERA registration status just like how one checks their PNR. The moment an enquiry comes from a mobile phone a OTP should be sent out to the number which is seeking to know the status of the registration. Once the OTP is matched Project registration details as submitted by the promoter should be sent out to the prospective buyer including the GPS location of the project. Any misuse of the information by competitors could be made a punishable offence as a deterrent for misuse.

Banks do ask for RERA registration particulars to approve the project for Home loan sanction process. However, there is no such requirement prescribed for single file processing by the financial institution. 

RERA & Local Body should insist on prominent display of the RERA registration Number and the Plan Sanction Number of the local body at the project site. Any deviation from this should attract a substantial penalty. 

It is interesting to note the effectiveness of RERA seems to be quite strong in the states ruled by the BJP while few other states seem to be lagging in the implementation of the RERA Act in its entirety. One could visit the state RERA websites like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh etc in comparison with states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan the intent to help the consumer is absent in few states while the purpose of this Act is well demonstrated in other states.

Unless the State becomes a protector of the consumer ensuring there is no undue bias towards the wealthy promoters who could contribute to the party fund, consumer will never win.

It is important such an important Consumer centric Act is not diluted by vested interests, who are happy to make some money.  Once all projects get automatically reported to the RERA by the Local bodies, there will be drastic improvement in compliance. Let RERA not become a money spinner for few and be a protector of the consumer as was intended while bringing out the law.