Govt should appoint real estate regulator: Assocham

Industry body Assocham today said the government should appoint a real estate regulator to help expedite the redressal of consumer grievances.

"There is a need for an efficient and focused regulatory body to overlook functioning of the real estate sector in order to insure the industry development and safeguard of consumer interests in line with international benchmark," the chamber said.

The real estate regulator would ensure that the consumer grievances against developers, development authorities, real estate agents and financial institutions are addressed without any delay, it said.

The chamber further said that opening of an escrow account for real estate players should be made mandatory to ensure transparency in real estate transactions.

The real estate industry maintains an escrow account for development of a project, purchase of real estate units and honouring property charges.

"This facility needs to be encouraged by asking project developers to open an escrow account...," it said, adding that such accounts are also maintained for honouring property charges, insurance liabilities and maintenance charges on regular basis.