RERA report card : An analytical summary of the Real Estate Act so far !

Six months into the Real Estate (Regulatory and Development) Act, and the whole Real Estate industry of the Country has been changed drastically. The Real Estate Act, popularly known as RERA, for the most part, has been advantageous to both the real estate developers as well as homebuyers. However, in some of the states, its implementation has been so poor that it has led to a halt in the activities of the real estate developers. Until now, the Act has created enough buzz for the real estate to know of its existence but, not enough information about the Act has been provided so that the developers are fully aware of different consequences of RERA.

Noteworthy highlights

1. The registrations for RERA have already started in 12 states and 3 UTs of the Country. Most of these states do have an official website for the registration process except Goa, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
2. A total of 17 states and all 7 UTs have notified the final RERA rules, but some states lack the implementation of RERA registrations. These include Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Kerala and Telangana among others.
3. The deadline set for the registrations was 31^st July, which was missed by most of the states due to delays in notifications and absence of Authorities.
4. Maharashtra was the first state to not extend the deadline and penalize real estate developers for the delay in registrations. The fines started from Rs 50,000 and varied to Rs 10 Lacs in the state.
5. States like Goa and Haryana, which have started with RERA registrations, still lack a proper Real Estate Regulatory Authority.
6. Maharashtra leads the tally for the most number of registrations of both promoters as well agents. More than 8,500 ongoing projects have been registered with 13,000 applications in the state.
7.  Maharashtra has also seen the most number of complaints by home-buyers with more than 1200 compliant applications till now.
8. RERA has also helped homebuyers by serving justice to few of the complaints filed. In recent past, it has been evident in many cases where RERA Authorities have ordered for a refund of buyer’s money, creating an ideal platform for buyers to reach for solutions. 
9. The RERA Authority of Tamil Nadu has been made responsible for RERA registrations in Andaman and Nicobar. Similarly, the RERA Authority of Maharashtra, MahaRERA, is also responsible for overlooking RERA in Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
10. RERA has also seen a backlash by real estate developers. In the recent past, a lot of builders throughout the Country have filed petitions opposing the provisions of the Real Estate Act, making all the ongoing projects to register mandatorily. These petitions are being heard by the Bombay High and will prove significant if any amendment in the Act is ordered.

Flaws of RERA

From what can be clearly observed by now is that the major fault since the implementation of the Act has been its execution. Most of the State Governments were not enough concerned to roll out the final rules of the Act so as to start registrations from May 2017. For some states, it is still the same. If the Act was executed by all the States properly, starting the registrations by May throughout the whole Country, the scenario would have been completely different and the effect of the Act would be much more favorable.

On the bright side

The Act will somehow, eventually be notified in all the states soon, and that will give a boost to the entire real estate industry. In the meantime, RERA has already proved to be a strong force with the potential to revive the entire real estate. Some remarkable actions in complaints against builders have helped homebuyers strengthen their trust in the Act. And with provisions to deliver projects on time and depositing funds in separate accounts by builders, it seems that buyers will have safe investments in the future and the existence of RERA Authorities will make for a proper regulatory system, which has been the main objective of the Act. 

TAGS: How absence of RERA is affecting Real Estate, RERA in Tamil Nadu, Defect Liability under RERA, Maharashtra RERA Authority