Day after rap, govt ‘dilutes’ draft rules for real estate

CHANDIGARH: A day after Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Venkaiah Naidu rapped Haryana for its failure to frame rules under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development Act), 2016, despite deadline, the Town and Country Planning Department today released “diluted” draft rules which exclude all ongoing projects.

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29

A day after Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Venkaiah Naidu rapped Haryana for its failure to frame rules under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development Act), 2016, despite deadline, the Town and Country Planning Department today released “diluted” draft rules which exclude all ongoing projects.

In the draft rules, the Haryana Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017, notified on the official website of the department on Friday, but released to the media today, TL Satyaprakash, Special Secretary to the state government in the Town and Country Planning Department, has invited claims and objections till May 15.

“The draft RERA rules are diluted and have been drafted to suit interests of the builders rather than the investors. The draft rules seek to exclude projects which have applied for occupancy certificate or part completion certificate, provided the same is granted by the competent authority within three months of the application. The rules also exclude projects which have received completion or part completion certificates in case of plotted colony and occupancy certificates for the building blocks of integrated complexes like group housing, commercial, cyber park or cyber city,” alleged Suresh Agarwal, president of the Haryana Property Consultants Welfare Association.

“The original RERA rules issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, which were expected to be a model for other states, define ongoing projects as the ones that are ongoing and have not received completion certificate on May 1, the day when the Act comes to force,” he said.

Under the new law, any delay in the completion of the project will make the developer liable to pay the same interest as the equal monthly instalment being paid by the consumer to the bank.

The maximum jail term for a developer violating the order of the appellate tribunal of the RERA is three years, with or without fine.

While nearly 13 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have already framed rules, Haryana had not even notified its draft rules allegedly under pressure from the strong builders’ lobby.