How much has RERA assisted home buyers in last one year?

General
Author: Riya Kapoor

Highlights

RERA is one the most beneficial and laudable steps taken by Central Government.
The enactment of RERA has indeed led to an increase in the transparency and accountability in the real estate sector.
The implementation of RERA remains an issue as many states have not yet implemented it fully and most are even yet to appoint full-time regulators.
More stringent RERA implementation is the need of the hour.

The Indian real estate sector assumed unprecedented historicity when the saffron govt. implemented the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act last year on 1^st May 2017.

Before the advent of RERA, the promoters or the builders indulged in malpractices that exploited the home buyers in many ways. These practices included rampant unfair trade practices such as huge delay in transfer of possession to the buyer, arbitrarily changing layout plans or cancelling allotment when the price of the home increased in future. Since there were no restraints of the promoters because of the absence of a national real estate authority, they worked according to their whims and exploited the buyers.

The dawn of RERA appeared as the beacon of light. RERA is one the most beneficial and laudable steps taken by Central Government to the plight of homebuyers It has brought the following listed changes that have brought in some of the most favourable repercussions for the home buyers -

Increased transparency and accountability:

The enactment of RERA has indeed led to an increase in the transparency and accountability in the real estate sector. Now the developers can’t fool the home buyer by making false claims and have to deliver whatever they’ve claimed.

Increased confidence of the home buyers:

With the implementation of RERA in Maharashtra, the confidence of the buyers has increased manifold since they believe that they now have an impartial body to listen to their grievances and act accordingly.

Provided immunity to the home buyers:

RERA is one of the finest acts passed which provides immunity to the buyers and shields them from being exploited by the mercenary promoters.

RERA is not a magic wand. Like any other act, it too has a lot of flaws.

The implementation of RERA remains an issue as many states have not yet implemented it fully and most are even yet to appoint full-time regulators. At present only a few states in India have a functional RERA website so there is a lack of necessary supporting infrastructure.
The biggest lacunae of RERA are absolving statutory authorities in granting permissions. We must have a single-window disbursal of all regulatory approvals which has been a long-standing demand of the real estate sector. The builders are presently at the mercy of state agencies which are in charge of granting approvals at various stages of a development project.
RERA's performance is also dismal as 15 states are without an operational RERA website. Even on the functional websites, the project's information is either incomplete or questionable, with no way to check its authenticity. As a result of the weak and faulty implementation of RERA, home buyers are deprived of the gains and protection guaranteed under the Act.

RERA has been an outstanding act that has brought in an unprecedented transparency and accountability in the Indian real estate sector but is not without its flaws. Lack of proper implementation is the biggest lacunae of RERA. More stringent RERA implementation is the need of the hour. Apart from that, RERA is working well and it will be interesting to see how they contribute to further transforming the real estate sector of the State.