Senior official denies allegations that RERA Act has been diluted, points to the finer details of the rules in an attempt to allay fears of home buyers
Arun Kumar Gupta, Principal Secretary, Haryana, Department of Town and Country Planning, speaks to Ashok Kumar over the alleged dilution of RERA rules by the Haryana government and the associated concerns of the buyers and the developers.
Though the Centre made completion certificate mandatory for projects to stay out of RERA, the Haryana government exempted projects even with occupation certificates. There is a huge difference between the two and the buyers now accuse the government of diluting the rules in favour of the developers. Your comments.
n The allegations are not true. The Act has not been diluted, its spirit remains the same. Since Haryana has a provision to grant both CC and OC for its projects, the projects with OC have also been exempted. And it is not done just by Haryana. Several States, including Punjab and Maharashtra, have made similar provisions in their RERA Rules in an attempt to fine tune the Central government Act.
The Centre exempted only those projects for which CC was granted, but the Haryana government exempted even those projects for which application has been moved seeking part-CC/CC or OC. It has benefited a vast majority of developers in the State.
n The exemption is not absolute, it comes with a rider. In case the application for the part-CC/CC or OC is rejected for not meeting the criterion, then the builder will have to automatically register the project within a month of rejection. This rule was not in the draft rules and incorporated in the final rules to safeguard the interests of the consumers.
But usually, observations are conveyed in case of any shortcomings in the application for part-CC/CC or OC and rejections are very rare. Also there is no fixed time limit for rejection of such applications. Don't you think it will provide builders an opportunity to buy more time?
n The observations will be conveyed only in case of minor discrepancies. If the building is not complete, then observations will be not be conveyed, but the request will be rejected outright. However, the process to scrutinise the application may take a few weeks or months, but not beyond that.
But these diluted provisions have deprived lakhs of flat owners of the benefits of RERA.
n The intention of the government was not to bring the completed projects under the RERA. So the RERA rules were amended keeping this in mind. Even Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have the same provisions.
A RERA authority has not been set up so far. What is the mechanism to address the grievances of buyers and developers as of now. How long will it take to set up the authority?
n Presently there is an interim arrangement to address the grievances of the buyers or builders, if any. The final RERA authority will be set up soon. The committee formed for setting up RERA will soon meet and make a final decision.
It is difficult to give a deadline for setting up the authority, but we hope it will be constituted in another two months.