SHELTER FOR THE REAL ESTATE BUYER: A BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THE REAL ESTATE (REGULATION AND DEVELOPMENT) ACT, 2016 – Adv Sherry Samuel Oommen

1. Introduction

A widely anticipated and much-awaited development in recent months has been the enactment of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (the ‘Act’). The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on March 10, 2016, and by Lok Sabha on March 15, 2016. On 26 April, 2016 the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation issued a notification whereby 69 out of a total 92 sections contained in the Act entered into effect May 1, 2016. The act is uniformly applicable across India (except for the State of Jammu & Kashmir), and is applicable for both residential projects and commercial projects.

1. Regulatory Framework

The partial notification of the Act made by the Ministry wouldlay the groundwork, and the notified provisions envisage the development of a framework of rules and regulatory authorities.  The scheduled framework envisages the following:

• Establishment of Real Estate Regulatory Authorities: Under the notified Section 20, the “appropriate government” is required to establish Real Estate Regulatory Authority (the ‘Authority’)by April 30, 2017. Appropriate government refers to the state governments, with exceptions made for Union Territories without legislatures, Puducherry and Delhi.The section 20 also provides for the establishment of an interim authority, which would preferably be the Secretary of the department dealing with Housing.
• Establishment of Appellate Tribunals: Similar to the above stipulation, under Section 43,Real Estate Appellate Tribunals shall be formed within a maximum period of one year – by April 30,2017. It shall also appoint an interim appellate tribunal in the meantime.
• Framing of Rules: Under Section 84 of the Act, the state governments are required to make rules for the implementing the provisions of the Act by October 30, 2016. A Committee chaired by Secretary (HUPA) is currently working on formulation of Model Rules, which would act as guidance for States and Union Territories.
• Dispute Resolution Based on Specific Time frame:

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