The Real Estate Regulator Bill came into force on May 1st, 2016. As per the notification issued by the government, the rules have to be framed by the states within a period of 6 months. Maharashtra seems to be racing ahead of the other states in implementing the act, with retired IAS officer Gautam Chatterjee having drafted the rules for the State’s real estate regulator (RERA) which have been submitted to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

In an exclusive interaction with NDTV, Gautam Chatterjee has revealed that Maharashtra’s RERA will borrow from the state’s own regulatory proposal of 2012 and contains several provisions that will benefit home buyers. We bring you the highlights.

It Will Have A Retrospective Effect:

Maharashtra’s RERA will make it mandatory for all ongoing projects which do not have Occupation Certificate (OC), to get registered within three months, effectively making it retrospective. This will be a huge relief for homebuyers across Maharashtra, who have been suffering from project delays and other malpractices by the developers.

#EXCLUSIVE: #Maharashtra RERA to have retrospective effect, says Gautam Chatterjee who drafted rules @manishanatarajhttps://t.co/XodvoULBvQ

— NDTVPropertyShow (@NDTVProperty) June 7, 2016

MOFA Will Not Be Repealed:

The Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act (MOFA) which has been protecting home buyers from unfair practices so far will not be repealed. The RERA will in fact borrow provisions from both the central act as well as MOFA. So if a home buyer has a complaint or dispute, he can choose to move the civil courts under the MOFA act or go to a consumer court or else approach the state’s RERA which will be a quasi-judiciary authority.

#EXCLUSIVE Maharashtra #RERA will not replace MOFA, will give buyers more choice to address issues @manishanatarajhttps://t.co/KXSyelffFu

— NDTVPropertyShow (@NDTVProperty) June 7, 2016

Full disclosure Expected from Developers:

In addition to the disclosures made mandatory in the central act, the Maharashtra act will push for additional disclosures like timelines for project delivery, method of calculation of project prices, details of materials used, among other specifications. Under RERA buying a house will be as simple as buying a car, with homebuyers knowing exactly what they are paying for, and what they will get in return.

#EXCLUSIVE Maharashtra #RERA will push developers to disclose timelines, method of price calculation @manishanatarajhttps://t.co/C5CHSuhQyw

— NDTVPropertyShow (@NDTVProperty) June 7, 2016

Real Estate Advertisements will be regulated:

Irritated with advertisements that promise the moon only to find out that reality is very different? Under the new RERA, developers will only be allowed to advertise their project to the public, once all approvals are in place and even then, only after getting a go-ahead from the regulator. In case there are any false claims made in the advertisements, the act will have provisions to penalise the developer.

#EXCLUSIVE Maharashtra #RERA to ensure that projects have all approvals before being shown to public @manishanatarajhttps://t.co/dIsHwz6uy8

— NDTVPropertyShow (@NDTVProperty) June 7, 2016

Maharashtra’s RERA will be released this month for public discussion. If the proposals made so far are anything to go by, then it will definitely be an act with teeth, one that will ensure that developers are not able to take advantage of home buyers anymore.

Reporter : Ashwini Priolker, NDTV
Web Editor : Nikhil Narayan Sivadas, NDTV