Naidu talks tough on states diluting Real Estate Act

Talking tough against errant states for diluting the Real Estate Act, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday warned states of huge public outcry over dilution of the objectives of the act.

Addressing a meeting of Chief Secretaries and senior officials of states and UTs, Naidu asked states and UTs to implement the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 from the May 1, 2016 as proposed in the Act. Naidu also told states about reports coming to his notice that some states have diluted the ‘real’ objectives of the RERA Act, which would not be taken into the right spirit.

Supporting the stand of Naidu against errant states, Fight for RERA’s national convenor Abhay Upadhyay said that states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have diluted the act by notifying the provisions of RERA in accordance to their own convenience. 

“In its notifications, Gujarat has maintained that the projects started after November 1, 2016 would come under the ambit of the law, which is a gross violation of the Act, while Madhya Pradesh in its notification has brought the projects started after June 24 under its legal jurisdiction,” Upadhyay said.

Explaining about other states violating the RERA norms, Upadhyay said, “The Uttar Pradesh has diluted the definition of RERA by bringing out its own definition and applied the clauses of RERA for projects started after June 24, 2016. In case of Delhi and NCR, the lacuna in the notified laws is that builders have been authorised to put on their websites about the cases which have been disposed off rather than pending one, which will create confusion among homebuyers while choosing a builder.”

“The Real Estate Act has it that builders would have to give all details including number of pending cases against them to make it clear for a homebuyer prior to entering into any agreement with builders,” he said, adding, “We thank Naiduji for clarifying to states that they cannot dilute Real Estate Rules in favour of builders as it will defeat the purpose of the RERA.”

During the review, it was also revealed that Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry would notify the RERA rules next month.