Under the new housing regulatory bill, not only the developer but even flat buyers can be put behind bars and made to pay a fine if they fail to comply with the housing regulatory authority’s order.
Under the new housing regulatory bill, not only the developer but even flat buyers can be put behind bars and made to pay a fine if they fail to comply with the housing regulatory authority’s order.
Senior chartered accountant and housing expert Ameet Israni pointed out that section 47 of the Bill stated that “any person”, who willfully fails to comply, can face three years’ imprisonment and a penalty Rs10 lakh.
“If the government wanted to punish only developers, they would have specified ‘developer/promoter/builder’ instead of ‘any person’ in section 47. Do not be surprised if the housing bill authority sends flat buyers too in jail on flimsy grounds,” Israni said.
Experts feel there is nothing to cheer about the new housing regulatory bill. “In fact, it has given more freedom to developers and restricted the right of buyers. The imprisonment is for disobeying the housing authority’s order, not for breaking the law. Who has given the housing authority the power to pass such a harsh order?” asked Israni.
As per section 11(I), if a developers fails to complete the project because of “reasons beyond his control”, he can refund the buyers the invested amount with interest. Developers may misuse this section 11(I) by delaying a project for uncertain period citing unconvincing reasons and when the price skyrockets, compel the buyers to take their invested amount with interest and leave.
“Buyers put in their life savings to buy a flat, not to earn interest. Such delay tactics and harassment of buyers is already prevalent in city and now will gather more momentum,” said Israni.
Then there is section 11 (4) (iii) which violates the citizen’s fundamental right of getting essential services, including drinking water and electricity. Under this section, the developer is empowered to cut the water supply, lift and sewerage connection if the residents fail to pay the outgoing for more than three months.
“Even under the Co-operative Housing Act and the United Nation Human Right Charter, one cannot cut off essential services. Even government authorised bodies, such as the BMC, do not cut off water supply immediately though the defaulter has not paid taxes on time. Why has so much power being invested in the developer? In whose interest is the bill?” asked researcher Meenal Rege.
Under section 11(1), the developer either can obtain occupation certificate (OC) or building completion certificate (BCC). “Both OC and BCC should be made mandatory while making conveyance, then only will the flat owners be the plot owners. Else during redevelopment and sale of the flat, the owner will have to seek a no-objection certificate from the developer though he is no longer part of the project,” said Israni.
There are more than 5,000 housing societies in Mumbai that have no conveyance. As a result they are struggling for redevelopment though the buildings are in dilapidated condition.
“The government should not make such blatant and gross mistakes. It should make it mandatory for the builder to obtain an OC and BCC for the residents,” said Rege.
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