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After Union Act, fate of state realty law hangs in balance
Mumbai: A day after the Union cabinet approved a proposal to set up a real estate regulator to protect home buyers from fraudulent builders, the fate of a similar Bill, passed by both the Houses of the state legislature nearly a year ago, hangs in the balance.
"If the Centre has drafted a proposal to set up a regulator to protect home buyers from unscrupulous developers, it will not grant assent to our Bill. In that case, we will have to wait till the Centre enacts a new law," a senior bureaucrat told TOI on Wednesday. On May 8, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Bharatkumar Raut had sought information on the status of the Maharashtra Housing (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2012.
Union minister of state for home Mullappally Ramachandran confirmed that the stateapproved Bill, seeking assent of the President, was received by the ministry of home affairs on September 7, 2012, "We have received comments from all ministries, except from that of the housing and poverty alleviation. The ministry was last sent a reminder on February 25, 2013," he said, adding that a deadline could not be set for the approval of the state legislation as it required discussions of the Centre and the state.
The bureaucrat felt that under such circumstances, it appeared that the Centre would soon return the Bill. "The law is very clear. If the Centre is bringing in a legislation, no similar law can be brought in by any other state," he said.
When chief minister Prithviraj Chavan introduced the Bill in the assembly on April 7, 2012, he had said the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation, Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer Act), 1963—which was fivedecade old—was not effective in protecting the interest of flat buyers as promoters would wriggle out of the compulsory clauses on one pretext or the other. To protect the interest of buyers and implement the spirit of the law, the state decided to bring in a new law by repealing the 1963 legislation and taking into account earlier amendments as well as the model real estate Act and the real estate Bill of the Centre.
In the Bill, Chavan proposed the setting up of a housing regulatory authority and a housing appellate tribunal for ensuring effective implementation of the Act to promote planned development, construction, sale, transfer and management of flats and residential buildings. On one hand, it works towards public interest in relation to the conduct and integrity of promoters and on the other, facilitates the smooth and speedy construction and maintenance of properties. Moreover, the Bill aims at compelling promoters and developers into disclosure of their project details and also ensuring compliance of agreed terms and conditions, while registering, monitoring and regulating housing projects by the housing regulatory authority.
Above all, the state Bill ushers in transparency and discipline in home transactions and put a check on abuses and malpractices.
"If the Centre has drafted a proposal to set up a regulator to protect home buyers from unscrupulous developers, it will not grant assent to our Bill. In that case, we will have to wait till the Centre enacts a new law," a senior bureaucrat told TOI on Wednesday. On May 8, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Bharatkumar Raut had sought information on the status of the Maharashtra Housing (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2012.
Union minister of state for home Mullappally Ramachandran confirmed that the stateapproved Bill, seeking assent of the President, was received by the ministry of home affairs on September 7, 2012, "We have received comments from all ministries, except from that of the housing and poverty alleviation. The ministry was last sent a reminder on February 25, 2013," he said, adding that a deadline could not be set for the approval of the state legislation as it required discussions of the Centre and the state.
The bureaucrat felt that under such circumstances, it appeared that the Centre would soon return the Bill. "The law is very clear. If the Centre is bringing in a legislation, no similar law can be brought in by any other state," he said.
When chief minister Prithviraj Chavan introduced the Bill in the assembly on April 7, 2012, he had said the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation, Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer Act), 1963—which was fivedecade old—was not effective in protecting the interest of flat buyers as promoters would wriggle out of the compulsory clauses on one pretext or the other. To protect the interest of buyers and implement the spirit of the law, the state decided to bring in a new law by repealing the 1963 legislation and taking into account earlier amendments as well as the model real estate Act and the real estate Bill of the Centre.
In the Bill, Chavan proposed the setting up of a housing regulatory authority and a housing appellate tribunal for ensuring effective implementation of the Act to promote planned development, construction, sale, transfer and management of flats and residential buildings. On one hand, it works towards public interest in relation to the conduct and integrity of promoters and on the other, facilitates the smooth and speedy construction and maintenance of properties. Moreover, the Bill aims at compelling promoters and developers into disclosure of their project details and also ensuring compliance of agreed terms and conditions, while registering, monitoring and regulating housing projects by the housing regulatory authority.
Above all, the state Bill ushers in transparency and discipline in home transactions and put a check on abuses and malpractices.
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