Moneycontrol News | West Bengal takes first steps towards implementation of RERA

Jul 19,2021

The West Bengal government has taken the first steps towards implementation of RERA in the state by notifying rules governing the real estate regulatory authority in the state, complying with the Supreme Court order.

The West Bengal government has notified RERA Rules under section 84. This is first step towards implementation of the legislation.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 84 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (16 of 2016), the Governor is pleased hereby to make the following rules … These rules may be called the West Bengal Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2021. They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette,” the state government notification issued on July 27 said.

West Bengal was the only state in the country that had not accepted RERA. The Central Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) came into effect on May 1, 2017, exactly a year after it was passed by the Parliament. West Bengal had implemented its own act titled West Bengal Housing & Industrial Regulation Act 2017 (WBHIRA).

“RERA brought in a semblance of order in a sector unregulated till 2016. It was fiercely contested both from within and outside. Finally cleared by Hon’ble Bombay HC in 2017. Thanks to Hon’ble SC, RERA rules have been notified in West Bengal. We now have one Nation One RERA,” housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted.

Homebuyers have welcomed the move.

“West Bengal complying with the Supreme Court judgment and implementing RERA has given a sigh of relief to homebuyers of West Bengal. Last hurdle towards One Nation One RERA is now removed. Notification of Real Estate Rules u/s 84 of RERA is the first step towards this. We hope that the constitution of Authorities, Appellate Tribunal and web page as envisaged under RERA will also follow soon,” said Abhay Upadhyay, president of homebuyers’ body Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE).

“All out efforts should be made to start accepting complaints and hearings under RERA should begin at the earliest so that homebuyers of the can get speedy justice,” he said.

Earlier this month, the homebuyers’ body had brought the government’s attention to the almost two-month delay in implementation of RERA in West Bengal after the Supreme Court on May 4 struck down West Bengal's Housing Industry Regulation Act (WBHIRA) 2017, the law regulating the state’s real estate sector, saying it was ‘unconstitutional.’

This, homebuyers said, is causing immense hardship and delaying justice for those considering filing fresh cases.

In a letter to Durga Shankar Mishra, secretary, ministry of housing and urban affairs, Abhay Upadhyay, president, FPCE, had said that after the SC order, “it was imperative upon the state of West Bengal to take immediate necessary steps to implement the decision of the Supreme Court and constitute the Regulatory Authority, Appellate Tribunal and Adjudicating Officer and also to make subordinate rules and host a platform for detailed project/agent information under the Act, in letter and spirit as envisaged under RERA.”

The letter had urged Mishra to take up the issue with the state government so that the “process of implementation of RERA in the state of West Bengal is expeditiously implemented.”

In May, the Supreme Court had said that WBHIRA creates a parallel regime and is in direct conflict with the Centre’s Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA). The state law has encroached upon the domain of the Parliament and hence is unconstitutional, the verdict had said.

The West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act (HIRA), 2017 is more or less identical to the Centre's RERA and hence repugnant to Parliament's law, the bench had said.

As of date, a total of 67,313 projects have been registered in the country, of which 46% of them are in Maharashtra. Gujarat comes second with 8,685 registrations and Karnataka third with 4,151 registered projects.