NEW DELHI: National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) will not move court against the implementation of Real Estate Regulation and (Development) Act (RERA), even with regard to ongoing projects, as it helps build confidence among buyers, said its president Parveen Jain.

Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) has also asked its members to go for registration of ongoing projects as per rules notified by state governments. However, for future actions it will wait for observations by courts hearing the matter.

Developers from Jabalpur and Nagpur have filed cases in Bhopal and Mumbai high court, respectively, against the implementation of RERA on ongoing projects.

According to a developer, as some projects were launched under the old rules, making it mandatory to register them also under RERA — which came in to effect in May 2017 — would amount to implementing the law with retrospective effect.

The central government implemented RERA Act in the country on May 1, 2017, to bring in accountability and transparency. But, the Act has to be implemented through state governments, who have to notify the rules and appoint a regulator to monitor the sector. They also need to develop a website to enable developers to register their projects online.

CREDAI national vicepresident Manoj Gaur said that though they are not opposed to the implementation of RERA on ongoing projects, certain clauses of RERA rules — like depositing unused 70% of the money collected from the buyers in a dedicated escrow account — should not be implemented with retrospective effect.

He added that all states should follow the Maharashtra RERA, which stipulates that 70% of all future payments from buyers in ongoing projects must go in the escrow account.

Gaur said CREDAI has already indicated that the association supports implementation of the rules but it must be practical and aid in faster completion of ongoing projects. He said if the high courts’ rule is unfavourable, they will move court.

He said states must appoint the permanent regulator as early as possible as an interim regulator will not be able to do justice to the sector and will delay the registration processes.

Besides, only only a handful of states have so far launched the websites for online registration. States like Haryana, Telangana and West Bengal, where a lot of construction activities are taking place, are yet to notify the rules. UP, which covers Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Yamuna Expressway, has rules but it yet to start registration as the state does not have a website.

[“Source-timesofindia”]