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Maharashtra to get housing regulator within a month

According to a senior officer of the state housing department, the erstwhile Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government had approved the HRA, which received the president's nod a few months ago.

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Real estate sector is one of the major contributors to the GDP
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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the Housing Regulatory Authority (HRA) will come in to action within a month, which will ensure that property buyers are not cheated by builders.

According to a senior officer of the state housing department, the erstwhile Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government had approved the HRA, which received the president's nod a few months ago. "The housing department had also prepared the guidelines and submitted them to the chief minister for his approval. Since then, the file was gathering dust in Mantralaya," he said.

Sources in the housing department said there were some confusion over whether the Central regulatory bill is to be implemented or the state. "We had sought the directive from the Centre. They, however, told us to go ahead with our HRA. Maharashtra was then the only state to propose its own housing sector regulatory authority. The reason the Centre is not sure about approving its bill is because of the strong opposition by the Congress and Left.

Congress has suggested several changes in the current bill, so the entire process will take a lot of time," they said.

Another official said they were likely set up the office for HRA at the MHADA building in Bandra. "A retired IAS official with experience of work related to the urban and housing department or Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be appointed as the chairman of the regulatory authority. Fadnavis will zero down the name very soon and a few other members will be appointed for the smooth functioning of the body," said senior government official.

Meanwhile Pankaj Kapoor, MD of Liases Foras, a real estate research firm, has welcomed the government move. "In fact, this decision has been delayed unnecessarily. The real estate sector has been expanding by the day.

It is one of the major contributors in GDP. Still, it has no regulatory body, such as TRAI and SEBI for telecommunication and stock market respectively. The HRA will bring in a positive change and will curb the malpractice in the real estate sector. There will be a proper and official forum to address the buyers' grievances," he said.

According to the HRA, it will be mandatory for developers, builders and promoters to register with the body before starting a project. Besides, developers will have to submit a detailed plan for the project and keep the authority updated about the houses sold. All details will be uploaded on the HRA website, and anyone can see if an apartment has been booked or not. If developers fail to complete a project due to some reason, the buyers can come together to complete it. If developers violate the norms and cheat the buyers, then there is also a provision of a heavy fine.

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