Maharashtra to appoint housing regulatory body for home buyers

Maharashtra government will soon appoint a regulatory body to safeguard interests of home buyers after the Centre gave a go ahead to the state to frame rules to implement the Housing Regulatory Bill passed by the legislature and approved by the President.

"The process of framing of rules is in progress and the delay was because the Centre had framed a similar law "Real Estate" (Regulation and Development Bill) and wanted the state to adopt it.

"However, the Central government's bill is pending in the Rajya Sabha. We explained to the Centre that Mumbai's housing needs are different from the rest of the country. There was urgent need for a housing regulator and that our provisions were better than the proposed central law. Our submission has been accepted and we will have our own housing regulator," Shrikant Singh, Principal Secretary Housing department said.

The Maharashtra Housing (Regulation and development) 2012 was passed two years ago and the Presidential assent came in 2014.

The regulatory authority will be a quasi-judicial body and resolve the disputes related to the housing sector.

"We have got official nod from the Centre to set up our own regulatory authority for the state. We are in the process of forming rules and regulations after which the authority will come into existence," Singh said.

The previous Congress-NCP government had proposed the law to ensure home buyers interests are safeguarded. However, the Centre also brought a similar legislation in Parliament and asked Maharashtra to hold back implementation of its own law.

But the Centre's draft bill has gone to the parliamentary committee of the Rajya Sabha. Hence the state has got a go ahead with its own regulatory authority law.

Singh said consultations are on with law and judiciary and finance departments for framing rules regarding setting up of the regulator. He, however, declined to give a time frame for completing the process.