Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Minister Hardeep S Puri on May 16, 2020, said that one of the principal objectives of RERA is to help restore the trust between a buyer and the seller and this trust can only be restored by the true and effective implementation of RERA. This would not only help ease the burden of inventory pile-up in the sector, but also provide the necessary financial cushion to the developers to complete pending projects, he said.
He was speaking at a webinar on the “3rd anniversary of RERA” with the stakeholders of Real Estate sector here. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA, Shiv Das Meena, Additional Secretary, Rajive Kumar, Chairperson, Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Anthony de Sa, Chairperson, Madhya Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Gautam Chatterjee, Chairperson, Maharashtra RERA, Justice B Rajendran, Chairperson, Tamil Nadu Real Estate Appellate Tribunal, and representatives of ASSOCHAM, CREDAI, NAREDCO, FICCI, Home Buyers Association, National Housing Bank, and HDFC participated in the webinar.
Providing details of the successful implementation of RERA, the Minister informed that 31 States/UTs have notified rules under RERA. Thirty States/UTs have set up Real Estate Regulatory Authority and 24 States/UTs have set up Real Estate Appellate Tribunal. “More than 52,000 Real Estate Projects and 40,517 Real Estate Agents have registered under RERA across the country. More than 46,000 complaints have been disposed-off by the Real Estate Regulatory Authorities across the country,” he added.
Speaking on the challenges due to the present COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the real estate sector, the minister observed that Covid-19 has had a debilitating effect on the real estate sector, which has become a cause for project delays. During the initial period of the lockdown, construction activities had been barred. After reviewing the situation, the Government has put in place certain measures to allow for construction activities effective from April 20, 2020, he added.
The Minister also provided details of various other proactive reformative policy decisions to boost real estate like regulatory, programmatic, fiscal and financial initiatives such as Enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), wherein the Home buyers are classified as ‘financial creditors’. The recent decisions taken by Finance Ministry for Industry include extension of dates in filing return of Direct and Indirect Tax, relaxation in paying EMIs by homebuyers and waiver of some fee/charges, raising the threshold of loan default amounts from Rs 1 Lakh to Rs 1 Crore which will prevent triggering of insolvency proceedings for lower amount.
As regards, construction activities, the minister informed that these have been allowed in some parts of the country and in rest of the country, construction activities will resume in a phased and calibrated manner.
Puri also referred to the other announcements made by the FM to enable affordable rental housing for migrant labourers and urban poor such as the Affordable Rental Housing Complex (ARHC) scheme, where Government funded houses in cities will be converted into Affordable Rental Housing Complex under PPP model.
He informed that the Credit Link Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) for middle income group has been extended to March 31, 2021, which is likely to benefit 2.5 lakh middle-class people. He added that these measures are aimed at giving a fillip to the housing sector, as a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, announced by the Prime Minister, according to a PIB release.