Real Estate Act to be implemented in May

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service 

New Delhi, January 17

The government today announced to implement the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 from May this year. The Act was passed by Parliament in March last year. 

Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) M Venkaiah Naidu today asked the states and union territories to implement the Act from May 1, as proposed in the Act. Addressing a meeting of Chief Secretaries and senior officials of states and UTs, Naidu said, “Real Estate Act is one of the most consumer- friendly laws passed by Parliament and states have no power to dilute its provisions. He said this after getting information that some states wanted to dilute provisions of the Act. 

HUPA Secretary Nandita Chatterjee said no amendments to the Act would be considered at this stage since full implementation of the Act would begin only in May this year when Real Estate Regulatory Authorities and Appellate Tribunals would become functional.  He said the minimum plot size of 500 sq m proposed in the Act for registration of projects with regulatory authorities was arrived at after discussions by the Parliamentary Committees and in Parliament and it can’t be altered now.  

Regarding other issues raised by states,  officials said necessary clarity for the purpose of implementation of the Act can be given in the Rules to be notified by states/UTs, without violating the spirit of the Act.  During the meeting it revealed that Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, HP, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Mizoram, Rajasthan, TN and Puducherry will notify the Real Estate Rules next month. Punjab and Uttarakhand have said the needful would be done after the polls.