Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep S. Puri said on May 9 that the committee on stalled real estate projects should expeditiously make its recommendations and all stakeholders should carry out their share of responsibilities without delay so that these projects can be completed soon and homes handed over to homebuyers who have been waiting for long.
The committee on stalled real estate projects, chaired by former NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant, had met representatives of apartment owners’ associations, which held its second meeting on May 8 after its formation by the housing ministry on March 31 this year.
“Another effort that is underway is the issue of stalled real estate projects. As decided by this body, a committee has been constituted to examine the issues holistically and recommend ways to complete these stalled projects. I would recommend that this committee expeditiously make their recommendations and all stakeholders should carry out their share of responsibilities without delay so that these projects can be completed soon and homes handed over to buyers who have been waiting for a very long time,” Puri said at the 4th Central Advisory Council (CAC) meeting held on May 9.
The CAC was set up by the government for effective implementation of the real estate law in the country. In its meeting on May 9, it discussed issues ranging from legacy stalled projects and uniformity in rules framed by states and Union Territories (UTs) under the provisions of the Act.
Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Manoj Joshi asked members to submit their suggestions to the stalled real estate projects committee.
The issue of non-compliance of orders passed by Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERA) was also discussed at the meeting. In this regard, the Council deliberated on the best practices followed by certain states regarding execution of orders passed by RERA.
Homebuyers body, Forum For People's Collective Efforts (FPCE), that is represented in the CAC, submitted a report on the mechanism being adopted by Gujarat RERA Authority to enforce their orders where RERA has categorically vested its Authorities with enough powers to carry out their regulatory functions, including execution of orders for recovery on behalf of homebuyers.
Gujarat RERA has decided to recover the due amounts through Mamlatdars or tehsildars, who are working on deputation in the RERA Authority, and have been vested with the powers of a regular Mamlatdar by the State Revenue Department.
Joshi that this is a regular practice followed by various financial institutions, state finance corporations, and industrial development corporations where revenue recovery powers are delegated to a revenue official posted in that organisation and the means of revenue recovery becomes that much more effective.
Abhay Upadhyay, President, FPCE, said at the meeting that Gujarat RERA has appointed an adjudicating officer who is a retired secretary general of Ahmedabad High Court and has been delegated powers under Section 81 of the Act so that he can deal with the execution and proceedings of RERA orders. He suggested that other authorities should also appoint a person vested with powers of a district collector with regard to the recovery mechanism.
Rajive Kumar, Chairman, Uttar Pradesh RERA, said that recovery certificates are an effective weapon with the government. In UP, RERA has been able to recover through district magistrates around Rs 583 crore even during a crisis of liquidity and transfer the money to homebuyers which is almost 52 percent.
Keeping in view the importance of speedy and effective execution of orders passed by RERA, it was decided at the CAC meeting that the housing ministry will compile the best practices in this regard and circulate the same to all the States/UTs and other stakeholders for consideration.
Participants at the CAC meeting were informed that 32 states/UTs have set up real estate regulatory authorities. It was informed that Ladakh, Meghalaya and Sikkim are yet to establish any such authority, while six states/UTs (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry) are yet to establish permanent regulatory authorities.
All states and UTs have notified rules under RERA, except Nagaland, which is under process to notify the rules. The participants were informed that 32 States/UTs have set up Real Estate Regulatory Authorities. Three states/UTs, namely, Ladakh, Meghalaya and Sikkim are yet to establish an Authority. Six states/UTs, namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Telangana, Jammu & Kashmir and Puducherry are yet to establish permanent Authority.
The participants were told that 28 states/UTs have set up Real Estate Appellate Tribunals, seven states/UTs, namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are yet to establish the Tribunal, and four states, namely, Manipur, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand are yet to establish a permanent Appellate Tribunal.
As many as 1,02,933 real estate projects and 72,657 real estate agents are registered under RERA across the country, and 1,07,081 complaints have been settled by RERA across the country.
Manoj Gaur, Chairman, Credai, said at the meeting that while RERA has helped increase homebuyers’ confidence, delays in projects are not always on account of the fault of the builders. He suggested that builders should also have the right to appeal before RERA if their projects are stalled on account of NGT orders, labour cell, or orders passed by the local administration. “Sometimes, projects are completed, but authorities deny completion certificates. RERA should be empowered to address these issues as well,” he said.
Development Authorities that sell plots should also qualify as developers and should be registered as one under RERA, he added.