RERA: Three-member panel will make buying homes in Maharashtra easier
Rules under RERA make the registration of real estate projects, promoters and real estate agents mandatory
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced that it had appointed retired IAS officer Gautam Chatterjee to head the three-member Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority, which will be responsible for implementing the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) that came into effect from May 1.
The authority comprises Dr Vijay Satbir Singh, additional chief secretary, public health department and retired judge BD Kapadnis.
A committee headed by the Bombay high court chief justice and comprising the principal secretary of housing and law and judiciary department had short-listed three names for each of the authority’s posts. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis handpicked three names from the recommended list. Chatterjee had earlier been appointed interim head of the authority, which is expected to hear the complaints of Mumbaiites from July 1. The three men will work from the Slub Rehabilitation Authority’s office in Bandra (East). Though the authority currently has responsibility at the state level, the government is considering forming two or three similar authorities at the divisional level, based on the number of complaints received.
Rules under RERA make the registration of real estate projects, promoters and real estate agents mandatory. Developers must provide all the details of their projects on a website, register their flats after a certain number are booked and deposit the money collected from buyers in a dedicated account. Developers have also been barred from discriminating among buyers based on caste, creed, religion, food habits and language.