The RERA Report card- Progress so far!!

RERA was passed by the Parliament last year and the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation had given all the States and Union Territories time till 1^st May 2017 to make all the operational rules, set the institutional infrastructure and notify rules for the functioning of the regulator. In addition to this, all the developers and real estate agents/brokers have been given time until 31st July 2017 to have their ongoing projects registered with RERA. However, this can be done provided states have the rules, a regulator and a website up and running by then. 

Let’s have a quick look at the what has been achieved so far: 

- Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are the only two states to have a permanent authority and RERA websites also in place. 

- 18 states and UT’s have notified the RERA rules as on date. These include Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya   Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Assam, Jharkhand, NCT of Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep.

- Tripura, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Telangana and Puducherry have prepared the draft rules. 

- Many states are in the process of appointing the permanent regulatory authorities and around 19 states and UT’s are in the advanced stages of appointing an authority. 

- As of date only six states and UT’s have set up an interim tribunal.

- The Central Advisory Council has to be set up, but it is looking for having at least five to six full-time regulators in place. This council will be taking care of various matters concerning the implementation of RERA and protection of the consumer’s interest. Also Read:- RERA Impact on Real Estate Brokers

What States have done so far: 

- Maharashtra has received applications from at least 10 developers and 1100 real estate agents. The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority are in the process of ascertaining its number of on-going projects that lack Occupation Certificates (OC). 

- Haryana has assured that it will have its rules in place by June and Uttar Pradesh has decided to revisit some rules and already has an interim regulator in place. 

- Rajasthan recently launched their official RERA website and has ordered compulsory registration of all real estate projects.

- Gujarat appointed Manjula Subramaniam as the chairperson of real estate state

level authority, but has not made the announcement official yet!

- In Madhya Pradesh, the state has issued a revised set of rules last week. It has decided to reduce the registration fees from Rs 20 per square meter for residential projects to Rs 10 per square meter. Also, for the commercial projects, it will be reduced from Rs 50 per square meter to Rs 20 per square meter.

- In Karnataka, the implementation of the Act has been delayed by some more time as the Cabinet has failed to take a decision with regard to notifying the final rules.

Reasons behind the delay

- The developers and agents/brokers are taking time in understanding the RERA rulebook. In addition to it, a lot of detailing is required before the information gets uploaded, which is a time-taking process. 

- Since the developers now need proper certification and compliance related documents to have the project approved by RERA, addressing all the issues and having all the compliance in place is again a time-taking process. 

- The developer and agent registration require a lot of hand-holding.

- Many banks and financial institutions are waiting for clarity on factors like how the amount will be disbursed from an escrow account, the frequency of disbursements from the escrow account, etc. 

The buyers’ side: 

- The buyers are disheartened by the fact that some states have diluted the RERA rules and are delaying in appointing of authorities and web portal.

- The current buyer is confused about which agreement to sign, a RERA-compliant agreement or agreement which says that RERA registration is in the process!

- Many states are missing on domestic and international investments due to the slow and gradual approach to putting RERA processes in place.

From the government: 

M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation in multiple media statements has shared that it is mandatory for states to notify the RERA rules. By 31^st July, if they do not appoint a regulator or an appellate tribunal, everything will come to hold as it will impact the project registrations. He also shared that most of the states have assured that they will be able to notify rules and appoint a regulator by the end of this month