Mumbai: Maharashtra on Monday became the third Stateto appoint a housing regulatory authority.
Gautam Chatterjee, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, will be be the interim in charge and help the government fine tune and implement the Maharashtra Real Estate (regulation and development) (registration of real estate projects, registration of real estate agents, rates of interest and disclosure on website) Rules, 2016.
The rules were cleared earlier this month but were criticised by experts who claimed the final draft was diluted to favour developers. Mr. Chatterjee is learnt to have expressed his disapproval to the final changes made to the draft rules, sources in the government said.
According to sources, Mr. Chatterjee, a former additional chief secretary (retired), was always in the reckoning following a nod from the CM himself. However, the Law Department had pointed out that the Central Act permits only serving officers to be appointed to the post. Soon after, Mr. Chatterjee was appointed OSD to CM, paving way for his appointment on the Housing Regulator, sources said.
Once the rules are finalised, Mr. Chatterjee’s name is likely to be forwarded to a State committee comprising a retired judge of the Bombay High Court, Secretary (Law), Secretary (Housing).
Senior officials said the State is likely to appoint multiple authorities to head various housing regulators for different regions. As of now, the plan is only to set up a single housing regulator and authority for the state. “The appointment of an authority means we will be able to factor in the suggestions and objections received from the public and tighten Maharashtra rules further for the interest of the flat buyers,” said an official of the state housing department.
The regulatory has been designated under section 20(1) of the newly framed rules, which provide that within a year from the date of coming into force of the Act an authority be appointed.
Following Centre’s approval for the Housing Regulatory Bill, Maharashtra government had earlier this year passed its own Maharashtra Housing (Regulation and Development) Act, to set up a quasi judicial regulatory authority to resolve disputes between developers and buyers. The rules were framed as a process to put in place a Housing Regulator, to come at Bandra, and a Housing Authority to lead the regulator.
Earlier in the month, as many as 60 of these by-rules cover four important aspects: registration of promoters/ real estate agents, administrative machinery, authority/tribunals and penalties and punishment were cleared on Saturday, senior officials said. Under the rules, an aggrieved buyer can file a complaint with the local housing regulatory authority by paying a fee of Rs 10,000.
