Housing Regulatory Act Brings Relief to Property Buyers
The Housing Regulatory Act was designed with a view to regulate and promote construction, sale, management, and transfer of flats on ownership basis. Under this Act, it is now essential that project developers pay a fee close to Rs 50,000 in order to register their projects online through a government website, listing all the project details. In the case of a project delay, the developer would have to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh and/or serve a prison sentence for three years. This game-changing act seeks to empower flat owners, in order to make them free from the malpractices of the real estate world.
Immediately after the delay for the organization of Housing Regulatory Authority (HRA) was announced, the state government dedicated time and resources into recruiting its chairman and members. The Maharashtrian Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has spoken about the importance and commitment required for incorporating HRA in the state.
The CM has stated that the chief secretary JS Saharia will oversee the selection process and appoint the chairman and members of HRA. He further goes on to add that the formation of HRA is currently under process, such that even the website is still under construction, and the functions of framing its guidelines and dealing with the subsequent suggestions and objections raised, will be undertaken by the state law and justice department.
As Chavan still hasn’t specified whether HRA will be formulated before the state assembly election, the prospect of this important decision being put on hold during the election code of conduct is a possibility. The state polls and election code of conduct are scheduled for October and August respectively.
It has been four months since the Maharashtra Housing Regulation and Development Bill 2012 that was passed a year ago by the legislature, received presidential assent. According to a senior state housing department official, the rules and regulations for this act were prepared and submitted to the state law and justice department in order to gain their approval. Once this is obtained, it will be published in the newspaper allowing people to contribute by offering suggestions and objections. However if the CM does not personally intervene in this discussion, then the matter will remain stagnant.
Another official has spoken about why the qualification criteria for the chairman and state members requires them to have an experience in urban development, housing and development planning departments. The result of this amalgamation of knowledge would help the board deal with the complex and technical issues of real estate by taking action against culpable developers hence providing justice to victims.
Source: DNA
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, Housing Regulatory Act, Housing Regulatory Authority (HRA), Maharashtra Housing Regulation and Development Bill 2012, Urban development
