Cabinet nod to Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015

The Union Cabinet approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill 2015, as reported by the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha. The Bill will now be placed before the Parliament for consideration and passing. The Bill seeks to protect the interest of consumers, promote fair play in real estate transactions and to ensure timely execution of projects. It aims at restoring confidence of the consumers in the real sector; by institutionalizing transparency and accountability in real estate and housing transactions which will further enable the sector to access capital and financial markets.

The Bill provides uniform regulatory environment to ensure speedy adjudication of disputes and orderly growth of the real estate sector. It will boost domestic and foreign investment in the Real Estate sector and help achieve the objective of Government of India to provide ‘Housing for All’ by enhanced private participation. The Bill mandates disclosure by promoters to the customers through registration of real estate projects as well as real estate agents with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

The Salient features of the Bill are:

1. Applicable to both commercial and residential real estate projects.
2. Establishment of ‘Real Estate Regulatory Authority’ in States/UTs to regulate real estate transactions.
3. Registration of real estate projects and real estate agents with the Authority.
4. Mandatory disclosure of all registered projects, including details of the promoter, project, layout plan, land status, approvals, agreements along with details of real estate agents, contractors, architect, structural engineer etc.
5. Deposit of specified amount in a separate bank account to cover the construction cost of the project for timely completion of the project.
6. Establishment of fast track dispute resolution mechanisms for settlement of disputes through adjudicating officers and Appellate Tribunal.
7. Civil courts jurisdiction prohibited from taking up matters defined in Bill, however, consumer court allowed to hear real estate matters.
8. Promoters barred from changing plans and design without consent of consumers.
9. Provision of Appropriate Government to make rules for the matters specified in the Bill, and the Regulatory Authority to make necessary regulations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              -Press Information Bureau