Before introducing the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), the real estate sector faced several challenges, such as lack of transparency, financial discipline, skewed transactions favouring the developers, and limited grievance redressal forums for consumers. The above challenges have given the need to introduce relevant laws and establish a statutory body that would specifically deal with the challenges in the real estate sector.
Introduction Of The Real Estate (Regulations And Development) Act (RERA), 2016
With the introduction of the RERA Act in May 2016, there has been greater transparency in real estate transactions, improved the protection of consumer rights, and increased builder accountability. Overall, it has created trust amongst all the stakeholders in the ecosystem.
Key Benefits Of RERA Laws In India
1. Consumer Awareness & Education
The introduction of RERA laws has created a high awareness amongst consumers. Significant progress has already been made in establishing an understanding of RERA amongst consumers; however, the attention is limited to only the top few aspects of RERA.
2. Transparency
Significant improvement has been made to bring more transparency to the real estate sector. RERA was envisaged to improve the real estate sector's transparency and simplify the transaction process. Twenty-seven states have set up web portals to provide information relating to the registered projects to enable transparency and reduce information asymmetries. However, the RERA websites continue to be dissatisfactory for both consumers and developers.
3. Accountability
Strong footing of RERA in terms of developers' compliance in various aspects across states has given rise to the responsibility of the builders among buyers as well as other stakeholders.
4. Grievance Redressal
RERA has emerged as the forum of choice for consumers' grievances by filing an online complaint on the portal; however, extended resolution timelines cause dissatisfaction.
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