Centre nudges states to notify Real Estate Regulation and Development Act rules by May 1

NEW DELHI: The Centre has warned states of a serious situation of vacuum arising if necessary institutional mechanisms for the real estate regulatory Act were not put in place before the deadline of May 1 this year.

In a two-page letter to all the chief ministers of states on February 9, minister of housing & urban poverty alleviation (HUPA) Venkaiah Naidu said, “Real Estate Act is one of the most important reforms for the sector, which would bring benefits to all stakeholders. It is therefore, my sincere request to please bestow your personal attention to this matter so that the Act is implemented in time and in the spirit with which it was passed by the Parliament”.

All the states are required to notify real estate rules including the general rules and the agreement for sale rules and establish the real estate regulatory authorities and the appellate tribunals maximum by April 30, 2017 as the Act would commence its full operation from May 1.

"In the absence of rules and regulatory authority and appellate tribunal, the implementation of the Act would be affected in your state, leading to a vacuum in the sector," the minister added.

The Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 was notified by the ministry of HUPA on May 1 last year, which mandated states to notify their respective rules by October 31st last year.

However, only four states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and six Union Territories have notified the final rules so far.

On complaints of dilution of the provisions of the Act by some states, Naidu last month had said states have no power to dilute the provisions and also warned of serious implications including public outcry.

The central government has also recently forwarded the rules notified by the states to a parliamentary committee for examination.

At a workshop organised by the Ministry of HUPA with all the states and Union Territories last month to review the progress, states such as ?Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry said they would notify the real estate rules in February.

Punjab and Uttarakhand, however, said they would notify the rules after the state assembly elections.