Project and real estate agent registrations under the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) across the country have been on the rise across states between November 2018 and April 2019.

According to Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants, 307 projects have been registered under RERA in Andhra Pradesh, up from a mere 61 in November 2018. Maharashtra is the most active state, with more than 20,718 projects registered under MahaRERA, and nearly 19,699 RERA-registered real estate agents. Project registration in Karnataka stands at 2,530 projects and 1,342 RERA-registered real estate agents.

The latest RERA deployment on the ground shows Maharashtra leading the ‘race,’ if it can be called that, followed by neighbouring Gujarat with 5,317 RERA-registered projects and 899 registered agents and agencies, said Puri.

It has been two years since the deployment of RERA across the country and the Centre’s aim to enforce it in each state is gathering momentum. Even the north-eastern states, including Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim, which earlier shied away from it, have agreed to officially notify RERA rules soon. West Bengal is the only state that has notified its own real estate law under the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulatory Authority (WBHIRA).

RERA is intended to cover developers as well as real estate agents seamlessly across the country. As it stands, 22 states and 6 Union Territories have already notified their RERA rules, of which 19 states have active online portals. West Bengal, too, has an active portal for its own real estate law.

“If we look closely into each of the states with active portals, project and agent registrations have been on the rise since November 2018. Even while fretting about the dilution of the rules notified, buyers are bestowing their faith in the law and coming forward in large numbers to raise their complaints against developers for myriad reasons, including project delays,” explained Puri.

For instance, Maha RERA has received 6,631 complaints (as of April) since inception, 64 per cent of which the state authority claims to have disposed.

However, despite RERA notifications to defaulting builders who have been summoned to pay penalty to buyers, there are cases where builders are delaying payments or not attending hearings.

Nevertheless, things are changing for the better. Generally, players are more accountable and cannot get away with breaking the RERA rules. In several instances, developers have been reprimanded by the concerned authorities and have had to pay penaltyto their buyers. While the redressal of complaints has not been satisfactory for many, consumers are coming forward in large numbers to register complaints across states. The Wild West days of Indian real estate are definitely over.

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