JOIN USTwo years after the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, was notified by the Centre and one year after it actually came into force, its implementation has been tardy and even poor across the country. It is an important law which sought to make operational rules and create an institutional framework to protect the interests of consumers. It also aimed to promote the growth of the real estate sector by creating trust, confidence and transparency in its working. The real estate sector caters to a basic need. But it is an area where a lot of irregularities happen and consumers are often cheated and taken for a ride. There may be provisions in different laws which can be used to deal with the irregularities and violations. But RERA is a comprehensive and specific law which could deal with all the problems in the sector.
Many of the provisions are yet to be implemented. RERA is applicable in all states except Jammu & Kashmir. But some states are yet to notify the rules and so the law is a dead letter there. Under the law, all states should have a permanent regulatory body and an appellate authority, and a state-specific RERA website. But till now only Maharashtra, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh have set up full-time regulators. No norms prescribed in the law can be implemented effectively without the regulator in place. Appellate tribunals have not been created by most states. Problems like delays in deliveries continue even where the regulatory authority is functioning. In every state, a website has to be maintained which should provide information about all registered real estate projects. Many states do not have such a website. Where they exist they do not give all the information necessary to take a decision. Because of the flawed implementation, home buyers have been denied the benefits prescribed by the law and the protection provided by it. Most states have diluted the provisions. Though the law covers ongoing projects, most states have kept them out of its purview. Pressure from the real estate lobby is seen as the reason for the poor record of implementation of the law.
It is not that the law has not done anything and made any difference. The old practice of using the funds from one project to launch another one seems to be disappearing. Consumers are more aware of their rights and some have taken erring developers to court. Developers know that they cannot get away with all irregularities and illegalities. Consumers will have to put pressure on governments to ensure that the law is well implemented.