Smaller residential developments may be brought under the purview of the West Bengal Real Estate Regulatory Authority, or a separate law may be enacted to govern them.
The Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has asked the housing department to consider the proposal so that homebuyers who are not currently covered by west bengal rera can also get some protection.
Susil Mohta, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (West Bengal), raised the issue of small-time local promoters bringing disrepute to the trade by defrauding homebuyers who had no protection, unlike larger developments covered by West Bengal RERA, during the interactive sessions.
“RERA is applicable to any project on 7 cottah or a minimum of eight units. Projects that are smaller than this, and there are many such developments in every neighbourhood, there is no regulation to stop the builders from not meeting their commitments. Hence, there are instances of developers handing over buildings without a completion certificate (CC), or selling the same unit to more than one buyer. We wanted the government to step in and hand given a draft proposal to the housing department on March 2 and raised the issue at the meeting with the CM,” Mr. Mohta said.
In a timely manner, CM Miss Banerjee addressed the issue and said she had also heard multiple reports of people being harassed by part-time promoters. Aroop Biswas, the housing minister, has been asked to take steps to protect homeowners’ rights and prevent promoter fraud.
CREDAI has proposed broadening the application of the law to include construction projects on lots greater than three cottah. Hence, projects with four to seven flats would be subject to the guidelines.
“The state government cannot relax the RERA guidelines but it can make it more stringent. While most of the large developers, including those affiliated with CREDAI, are compliant with regulations, the smaller developers who are not accountable tend to flout rules and bring a bad name to the industry,” Mr. Mohta added.