'Inclusion of ongoing projs in realty bill to hamper works'

Realtors' body NAREDCO today expressed dissatisfaction over the inclusion of the ongoing projects in the real estate regulatory bill, saying this would halt works on the sites to ensure compliance.
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha yesterday.
"We hail the passage of the Real Estate Regulatory Bill in Rajya Sabha. It will help regulate the realty sector and bring in transparency and accountability for both buyers and developers," NAREDCO President Praveen Jain said.
This law will bring credibility to property business and also protect consumers' interest, he added.
"We are a little dissatisfied with the inclusion of the ongoing projects in the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill. This would lead to numerous problems including stoppage of work to ensure compliances," he added.

On a provision that developers will have to deposit 70 per cent of the funds received from buyers for a project into an escrow account, Jain said: "This will ensure that the funds are not diverted to other projects. This initiative will definitely pose a financial challenge to builders."

NAREDCO also rued that there is no provision in the bill to hasten project approvals, which invariably takes long time and increases project cost.
Although the bill fixes the accountability of developers, brokers and consumers, NAREDCO said that there is no accountability of financial institutions, government and government agencies in the bill, who have great role to play in project implementation.

"We hope that this would be included at some stage," Jain said.