Centre notifies real estate act rules

 The Centre on Monday notified the final rules to implement the The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, which aims to bring transparency and set accountability in the sector.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (General) Rules, 2016, is applicable for five Union territories without legislature — Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Chandigarh.

For Delhi, the Ministry of Urban Development is in the process of finalisation of rules while the state governments have to notify the rules on their own. However, generally most of the state governments take features from the rules adopted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA).

In a relief for home buyers affected by delay in projects, developers will now be required to refund or pay compensation to the allottees with an interest rate of the State Bank of India’s highest marginal cost of lending rate plus 2% within 45 days of it becoming due. This interest applies to payments due to the developers by the allottee which is to be paid within the period to be specified in the agreement of sale.

Rules provide for compounding of punishment with imprisonment for violation of the orders of Real Estate Appellate Tribunal against payment of 10 % of project cost in case of developers and 10% of the cost of property purchased in case of allottees and agents. Compliance with reasons for punishment shall be complied within 30 days of compounding, said the rules.

The government has fixed fees for registration of projects and real estate agents. For registration of projects, the fee has been fixed at Rs 5 per sq mt for up to 1,000 sq mt area and Rs 10 per sq mt beyond this limit subject to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh per project. For commercial and mixed development projects, it will be Rs 10 and Rs 15 per sq mt subject to a maximum of Rs 7 lakh. For commercial projects, it will be Rs 20 and Rs 25 subject to a cap of Rs 10 lakh per project. For plot development, it is Rs 5 per sq mt with a ceiling of Rs 2 lakh.

For registration of real estate agents, the fee now prescribed is Rs 10,000 for individuals and Rs 50,000 for other entities. Similarly, fee for renewal of registration of projects and agents has also been fixed at Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000, respectively. The developer, within three months of applying for registration of a project with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, should deposit 70% of the amount collected in a separate bank account.

For ongoing projects that have not received completion certificate, developers have to make public the original sanctioned plans and changes made later, amount collected from allottees and its utilisation.