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Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Girija Vyas, on Saturday, said her ministry would soon forward the Maharashtra Housing (Regulation and Development) Act, 2012, to the President of India, thus enabling Maharashtra to have a housing regulator in the new year.
“During my meeting with Vyas on Saturday evening, she accepted the state government’s request to forward the state Act to the President. I had already addressed three letters seeking the Centre’s intervention. Our argument was that the implementation of the state Act should not wait until the central legislation to set up a national housing regulator is passed in Parliament. In any case, there is remote possibility of Parliament's approval during the next session. Therefore, the Union minister has accepted our request to clear the Maharashtra Act,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told Business Standard.
The state Act aims to regulate and promote the construction, sale, management and transfer of flats on ownership basis and establish a Housing Regulatory Authority and Housing Appellate Tribunal. Chavan said the law ensures transparency & discipline in transactions of flats and in putting a check on abuses and malpractices. He hoped the housing regulatory authority would be in place in the new year. The Act was passed by the Maharashtra legislature in 2012. Thereafter, Chavan added he had sent communications to the Centre on July 21, 2012, May 2 and November 18.
According to the Act, registering the housing project and displaying it on the website of the Housing Regulatory Authority becomes mandatory for the promoter. The promoter will have to pay fees not exceeding Rs 50,000 along with the application for registration.
However, registration and displaying of the project would not be required, if the area of land proposed to be developed into a project does not exceed 250 sq metres and the total number of flats proposed to be developed into a project inclusive of all phases is less than five.
The details of such flats would have to be displayed on the website of the authority, before the start of any transaction, including marketing. The promoter shall be entitled to sell retained flats in each of the buildings only after the receipt of the occupation certificate or building completion certificate from the local authority for that building.
It would be the responsibility of the promoter to enter the record or details on the website of the housing regulatory authority. No order of cancellation of registration of the project would be issued by the housing regulatory authority unless reasonable opportunity of being heard is given to the promoter.
Furthermore, the promoter would be responsible for repairing the defects and faults in the building constructed till five years of the flats being handed over to the owners. The housing appellate tribubal would hear the appeals and give a decision in three months, which can be challenged only in the high court.
If a promoter violates the provisions of the new act, he would be liable for a fine of Rs 10 lakh and a jail term of three years.
According to the provisions, the layout, including recreation ground, park, garden and playground disclosed along with the building plan can be amended, modified and varied by the promoter from time to time, in accordance with the development control regulations including for the utilisation of the full development potential available from time to time.
