In the backdrop of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation planning to introduce a draft Model Real Estate (Regulation of Development) Bill, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) has submitted a paper to the Ministry highlighting certain key objections.
Addressing media persons here on Tuesday, Prakash Challa, Vice-President, CREDAI, said that while the Confederation welcomed the intention behind the Bill, it was unacceptable in its current form.
Pointing out that there is a need for regulation since a lot of malpractices have crept into the sector, Mr. Challa said “The current Bill is fairly moderate in outlook. However, clauses that stipulate every advertisement to be cleared by the Ministry or the need to register every contractor and broker are impractical. It also does not make sense to bar the utilisation of funds from pre-construction bookings for project development.”
According to him, the simplest way to make housing “affordable and available” is to liberalise the sector through single-window clearances along with a composite and rationalised tax system.
T. Chitty Babu, president, CREDAI Tamil Nadu, said “Ideally, the Regulation Bill should be one which creates and maintains standards and norms to be adhered to by not only the developers, but all the stakeholders involved in the process, including local bodies as well as errant buyers. CREDAI has recommended that the regulatory authority cover all concerned parties so that the entire process is efficient and transparent at the same time.”
The Association has stressed that the Bill must mention a fixed timeline before which local bodies must grant or reject clearances.
Mr. Babu said that the Regulatory Authority, which would be formed once the Act came into force, must also try and simplify the multiplicity of procedures which offer room for corruption.
Using an internal estimation, Mr. Babu said that if certain provisions proposed in the Bill came into effect, the construction cost could go up and the impact would be felt by the consumer.
