RERA roadmap in Bengal still not clear

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) implementation roadmap in West Bengal remains unclear and continues to keep home buyers of the state of the builder's mercy.
"We are already working on it. But I am unable to tell by when we will be able to enforce RERA," West Bengal Housing Minister Sovan Chatterjee told PTI.
RERA came into force yesterday and the state government is to notify the rules. The government has circulated the draft rules of the Act for the stakeholders feedback and suggestions.
Officials of teal estate industry body Credai Bengal said that no meeting with the government was held so far to discuss RERA.

So far only 13 states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and union territories have so far notified RERA.
Home buyers body seeks that states do not weaken the federal RERA and ensure that final rules are framed and implemented in the true spirit of the act.

The highest parliamentary body - The Committee on Subordinate Legislation (COSL) of Lok Sabha had reportedly taken up the slow progress in the implementation of the Act by some states and dilution of rules at the state level.
RERA mandates that promoters of all ongoing projects which have not received completion certificate register with the state-level regulatory authority and provide complete disclosure of the project details.

Sources said, Gujarat rules exempt all projects from RERA launched before November 2016, while Uttar Pradesh excludes projects for which completion certificates have been applied for.
"There is concern about treating ongoing projects under the new law. Though, not impossible but hard to implement," Credai Bengal president Nandu Belani said.
Emami Infrastructure director and CFO Girja Choudhary corroborating the problem of builders said there is need for relaxation regard to ongoing projects. "We will highlight the same before the Bengal government," he added.