Developers differ on the real estate regulatory bill as it is ‘one- sided’ in their opinion. The bill which has provisions to send the default builders to jail,exclusively avoid the punishment of default buyers.

Real estate regulatory bill: Builders remain suspicious.

Real estate regulatory bill is expected to be introduced in the upcoming parliament session. Some of the provisions in the regulatory bill are supposed to become a burden on the shoulders of the default builders. Some builders opined that the bill will curb and control the unscrupulous and dubious builders.

According to Mr. Pradipta Kumar Biswasroy, Real Estate Developers Association’s (REDA) Odisha Head, a commission is necessary to look after the real estate sector. He blamed that, at present, many unscrupulous builders exist because there is no proper law to curb them. He said that the sector loses its face due to the dubious acts of such unscrupulous builders.

CREDAI is unhappy with the new real estate regulatory bill.

Mr. Biswasroy added that with the launch of new real estate regulatory bill this situation can be changed as this sort of builders will be checked. He was of the opinion that the bill would be helping the sector to grow in a more systematic manner. The bill demands the prior registration of the builders for all bigger projects and without the registration; they will not be able to develop any projects.

Anup Kumar Mohapatra, a builder from Bhubaneswar, said that the bill should include single window clearance. He said that the bill should be both buyer –and- builders – friendly and should never be against the builders. Yet for many of the builders the bill is one- sided as it has provisions only to punish the builders and not the default buyers.

CREDAI’s state wing expressed that the provision for the builders to be treated as criminals in case of failure in delivering the projects in time. The apex confederation of the builders said that there are many occasions in which the delay is beyond the control of the builders.

In such cases it would be unfair to treat the builders as criminals. CREDAI- Odisha chief Mr. D S Tripathy said that in such situations monetary penalty should be introduced as against sending the builders to jail. Mr. Tripathy said that the criminal liability should be decided on the basis of intentional delay and cheating on the part of the builders.

Though real estate regulatory bill is expected to protect the buyers from the unscrupulous builders, the bill may turn out to be a burden on the shoulders of builders. Builders fear that the provision to levy criminal- penalty on the builders is unfair as delay in some occasions is absolutely beyond their control.