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The final
version of the much-awaited Maharashtra Housing Bill may turn out to be a mixed
bag for Developers as well as Home Buyers.
Five years
after the idea was first floated only to be canned, revived and tweaked, the State
Legislature at last approved the Maharashtra Housing (Regulation and
Development) Bill in 2012, which paves way for setting up of a Housing
Regulatory Authority and a Housing Appellate Tribunal. Every building construction project will have
to be registered on the Authority’s Website followed by full disclosure on Land
Title, Layout Plan, Carpet and Common Area and all other Amenities. Only after this the Developers can advertise
or sell flats in the new project. Recently a selected Joint Committee of the
Maharashtra Legislature introduced over a dozen changes to the earlier version
of the bill drafted by the State Housing Department.
The changes
meant as a relief to Home Buyers, they have evoked strong responses from both Developers
as well as Consumers for different reasons. The panel has added a provision
that allows 60 percent of the Flat Buyers to be appointed as an Escrow Agent in
case the Promoter fails to complete the project. The Flat Buyers can then go on to appoint Contractors
to complete the construction and obtain Occupation Certificate.
They have also extended the
number of years for which the Builders are required to provide for maintenance
of the building from three to five years. In addition to this, they have increased the penalty in case of
violations up to Rs. One Crore including a provision for up to six months
imprisonment.
While Paras
Gundecha, President of the Developers’ body MCHI-CREDAI lauded the bill for
promoting transparency, he attacked it for its approach towards Developers as
why Developers alone should be held responsible and not other Stakeholders such
as the Contractor, Consumer or Government bodies? Most delays occur due to the time taken in
getting approvals from the Civic body or State Government. He also strongly
objected to the clause allowing the Authority to prosecute Developers. This
power should vest with the Judiciary alone.
Housing
Society Associations however, have termed the bill as Lackluster. It is
basically old wine in a new bottle. Already the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act (MOFA) has provisions
that can make it mandatory for Developers to ensure transparency in all their
dealing with Buyers but it was never implemented. Critics have pointed out that
the State Bill is a severely watered down version of the Central Government’s
Real Estate Regulatory Bill which comes down more heavily against errant
Developers. Once such lacuna in the State Bill is that unlike the Central Bill,
it doesn’t allow the Housing Regulatory Authority to put on hold all the
projects by a Developer in case of violations.
With a measly
budget of Rs. 5 Crores the Regulatory Authority may just turn out to be a
toothless body with complaints piling up before using it. Even the
revised bill fails to crack down on several important issues such as charging
Buyers for Car Parking Spare or selling flats on Super-Built up Area.
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