Not on board

With Rera, the real estate sector – which is in continuous search of industry status – finally gets its own regulator.

The regulator’s job is two-pronged – first to ensure sustainable solutions to the challenges that have plagued Indian realty and protect interests of homebuyers. Secondly, the Act’s 92 sections aim to infuse greater transparency and accountability in a sector known for its opacity.

But even before the formal kickoff, the word ‘dilution’ has come to haunt the Act, which the central government believes is aimed at a paradigm shift in the sector.

Sectoral stakeholders define dilution as “state governments making changes in the initial draft prepared and presented by the centre”.

Developers and homebuyers fear that this dilution could end up defeating the very purpose of the Act.

For instance, some dilution has been witnessed in case of Haryana, as it has excluded most ongoing projects across the state from the list of Rera guidelines.

“This implies that buyers of ongoing projects, which are way behind schedule, will have no place to go and get their problems addressed,” says Hrishi Kumar, a first-time buyer and resident of Uttar Pradesh, who expects its state not to follow what Haryana did in implementing the Act.

Says Rajeev Talwar, chairman, Naredco and CEO of Realty major DLF: “Authorities implementing Rera provisions must focus on completion and delivery of existing projects as quickly as possible. A number of buyers are currently stuck with projects that have not progressed over the last many years and hence it is imperative that their problems are addressed.”

The Rera bill 2016, which was presented in Parliament in July last year before it became an Act, gave time to every state to come up with a regulator, whose job it would be to oversee the real estate sector in the province.

In India, any Act can be implemented with changes introduced by the authorities concerned, only after 120 days or approximately four months.

The four-month period is vital as it helps authorities comprehend the guidelines and norms better, before they come up with state-specific suggestions, aware that one size does not fill all in countries as diverse as India.

Potential buyers like Hrishi, place great trust in Rera. “We are eagerly waiting for Rera’s implementation. Delays in delivery and cases of fraudulent sellers will finally come to an end, as buyers will have someone to look up to with their grievances.”

A couple of days ago, end users of various NCR projects met UP CM Yogi Adityanath and were assured an undiluted version of Rera, along with a special grievance cell at the Noida Authority and close scrutiny of persistent builder-buyer problems.

There is a good reason for this trepidation. Most states have failed to identify its regulator and frame state- specific policies. In other words, it is unlikely for relevant real estate authorities to be in place in time.

Even in states like UP, which are run by the BJP government, the setting up of formal Rera with complete paraphernalia to register housing projects, may get delayed by at least three months in the absence of a chairman and members, who are yet to be appointed by a selection committee.

Points out Dheeraj Kumar Sinha, a Gujarat resident: “Although we are happy that our state is amongst those implementing Rera on time, we are yet to frame regulations and bring a regulator on board. This doesn’t make any sense”.

In order to ensure smooth and timely implementation of Rera, things have to be fast tracked as the central government has done all that it could and now, the ball is in the state’s court, says Sinha.

For others like Jitendra Nath Tiwary, buyer and resident from Bihar, his state is ripe case for extending real estate development.

“It is good that Rera is coming to Bihar long before real estate witnesses saturation. With the government standing in full support of buyers and growth of the state, we are hopeful that Rera will reshape and transform Bihar in a much better way than anticipated,” he points out. Hope rests eternal.

shishirparasher @mydigitalfc.com