What is RERA and why is it important? The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 is an Act of the Parliament of India which seeks to protect home – buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate industry. The act came into force from 1 May 2016. The purpose of the RERA Act, is to protect the homebuyer and increase the investments in the real estate industry. The RERA law is implemented in all the states to regulate the real estate sector. The law facilitates fast and effective dispute resolution.
Objectives of RERA Consumer Protection: RERA is focused on safeguarding the interests of homebuyers by ensuring fair practices, providing timely information, and resolving disputes between buyers and developers.
Promote Transparency: It aims to bring transparency to the real estate sector by mandating developers to disclose project details, including project timelines, legal approvals, and financial information, enabling buyers to make informed decisions.
Standardization and Accountability: RERA sets guidelines and regulations for real estate developers, ensuring adherence to quality standards, construction norms, and timely completion of projects. It holds developers accountable for any deviations from the agreed-upon terms and conditions.
Establishment of Regulatory Authority: It establishes a dedicated regulatory authority that acts as an independent body to oversee the real estate market, enforce regulations, and resolve disputes effectively and efficiently. For Brokers The RERA Act has significantly enhanced the accountability of real estate agents and brokers. The mandatory registration process ensures that only qualified professionals engage in real estate transactions and provide accurate information to buyers. This acts as a protection for the consumers in the present-day dynamic market. Since RERA, we have seen significant reduction in scams and frauds conducted by the brokers. For Builders Under the RERA Act, the registration of builders is mandated. No developer/promoter can sell, buy, advertise, or invite customers without registering the project with Real Estate Regulatory Authority. The provision of RERA Act ensures that buyers get the details of the project including the project completion timeline and approvals given to the project by various authorities. It is mandatory to share the details of municipal taxes, registration charges, maintenance charges, energy costs, etc. Builders hold the charges of all outgoings like water and electricity till the property is handed over. The builder will be also be accountable for structural defects in the construction of the property up to a period of 5 years. The builder will have to ensure that the land title is insured to prevent cases where consumers run into trouble due to uncertain land titles, where legacy issues are quite common. For Consumers The RERA Act is a powerful tool that can help protect interests of a homebuyer. RERA empowers buyers with the right to know every crucial detail of the real estate project they want to invest in. It allows buyers to make sound decisions by helping them get the most accurate, real-time information and cost calculations without any discrepancies or misleading advertisements. The allottee of a flat has remedies, both under CPA and RERA Act for redressal of the grievances, which the allotee can elect. Further, an allottee has the right to withdraw complaints pending in Consumer Courts and file the same before RERA. There is no requirement to pay a court fee. The remedies under both CPA and RERA Act are consumer/allotee friendly, faster and devoid of technicalities. For more information, refer to: UP RERA: https://up-rera.in/index HARYANA RERA: https://haryanarera.gov.in/ MAHARASHTRA RERA: https://maharera.maharashtra.gov.in/ https://aiforera.in/
