Cabinet gives nod to Real Estate Bill

A Bill providing for setting up a regulator for the real estate sector and having provisions like a jail term of up to three years for developers who make offences like putting up misleading advertisements about projects repeatedly was approved by the government today.
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, approved by the cabinet, seeks to provide a uniform regulatory environment to the sector.
It also intends to make it mandatory for developers to launch projects only after acquiring all statutory clearances from relevant authorities.
Builders and developers who become repeat offenders may even face a jail term of up to three years.

The Bill makes it mandatory for builders to clarify the carpet area of the flat. This would be made uniform for the entire country. This rule would make the concept of super area - which is often used to mislead owners - virtually non-existent.
The Bill has provisions under which all relevant clearances for real estate projects would have to be submitted to the regulator and also displayed on a website before starting the construction, sources said.
The proposed legislation has tough provisions to deter builders from putting out misleading advertisements related to the projects carrying photographs of the actual site.

Failure to do so for the first time would attract penalty which may be up to 10 per cent of the project cost and a repeat offence could land the developer in jail.