REAL ESTATE BILL TO PILE UP DIFFICULTIES FOR THE SECTOR

   Already there has been considerable protest against the inclusion of under construction projects in the Real Estate Bill and very recently a news of projects, even 5 years old being included under this bill is doing the rounds. Now the developers are very disappointed with the news of amendments being made to the bill and a new provision being added to it. Adding impetus to the general thought process, Deepak Kapoor, President CREDAI-Western U.P. & Director, Gulshan Homz says, “It is not appropriate to include ongoing and previous projects in this bill. Government should understand that the if the project is almost complete and possession has already been offered to a majority of residents, taking the project back on the drawing boards to the regulator and having it registered post the submission of all documents will only delay the proceedings and this will ultimately bear a direct impact on the delivery timeframe of the projects.”

In the current session, the government has worked significantly with all readiness to bring forward this bill and it’s result was the bill being passed from both the houses of the parliament. “The real estate bill was welcomed by all, be it a developer or any person who is remotely associated with the real estate sector but the bill which was brought forward post multiple amendments did have some aspects to it which would make the work of developers more difficult. Now that completed projects would also be included in the bill, it will definitely come forward in the form of delay in the possession of completed projects”, says Vikas Bhasin, MD, Saya Group.

Practically speaking, including ongoing projects and the ones in the timeframe of 5 years from the enactment of the bill would further slow down the rate of work in the sector. Rupesh Gupta, Director, JM Housing says, “The pressure from appointing a regulator within a year to the extent of every state creating it’s own version of the bill is enough to prove that this bill will definitely improve the current scenario in the sector. But, the government should not have overlooked the developers and tried having a look at things from their point of view. Before implementing this amendment in the bill, the government should have incorporated single window clearance and simultaneously fixed timeframes for approvals.” If 50% of any project has been sold out then it will neither be entirely correct to apply it on the remaining 50% of the project nor will it be feasible to apply it on the entire project. “Even after making the bill very balanced, there are still certain provisions which need to be worked upon by the government very minutely. Involvement of  authorities and timeframes for approvals are areas which need to be addressed at the earliest”, concludes Ankit Aggarwal, CMD, Devika Group.