The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI), Visakhapatnam chapter, which came into being on Thursday, had taken upon itself the responsibility of arbitration of disputes arising out of buyer-builder deals.
As a measure of self-regulation, the Visakhapatnam chapter came out with a code of conduct, which was formally released by CREDAI national president Santosh Rungta at a formal function, which stipulated several dos and don'ts for member builders/developers of the CREDAI.
“We shall ensure these 27 guiding principles laid down in the code are adhered to by our members to create a sense of confidence upon the fraternity,” said CREDAI chapter chairman K. Subba Raju in his welcome address.
Stumbling block
Mr. Rungta was all praise for Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority and the local body for the greenery and upkeep of the city, but was not happy with the connectivity of Visakhapatnam city with the rest of the country/world, which according to him was the stumbling block in the growth of the city.
Making an appeal to the government agencies to concentrate on planning infrastructure that was aimed at needs in 2060 AD, he found a mismatch between the existing primitive infrastructure and high-class buildings coming up. He was not happy with the land conversion fee/processing time and wanted labour cess abolished by allowing a group of builders to create welfare measures for the targeted people.
Subsidies
Reminding the VUDA Vice-Chairman that 33 per cent of sale value of buildings went into government revenue, he sought greater subsidies for building houses below Rs.50 lakh a unit, which was currently pegged at Rs.20 lakhs.
Dwelling on the need for developing ethical code for builders/buyers in middleclass housing projects, some of the speakers strongly advocated taking up projects with a green vision that had an eye on environment protection with latest technology incorporated for saving energy. CREDAI vice-president B. Sekhar Reddy wanted an ombudsman created for resolving disputes under the proposed Regulatory Authority Bill by the Centre and collection of all government cess at single point, mineral cess removed and vacant land tax brought down from 0.5 per cent to 0.05 per cent. Members of CREDAI chapters in Hyderabad, Kurnool, Vijayawada, Warangal, Vizianagaram and Rajahmundry attended.
