VIJAYAWADA: The Real Estate Regulator Act enacted by the Centre last year with the objective of safeguarding the interests of consumers and reining in unscrupulous builders is yet to take full effect in the state. Though the government had decided to enforce the Act from May 1 last year, it took another two months to frame guidelines. For reasons unexplained, the government soon after chose to set up an interim regulatory authority with the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) department Principal Secretary as its chairman.
Putting in sharp focus the state government’s dilly-dallying in enforcing the legislation, the website mandated by the Act is yet to become operational. In the absence of a functional website, builders were made to submit every detail of their plan including blueprint, layout, number of floors, material being used, source of finances etc. in hard copy.The lukewarm response from builders to register themselves with the authority is another downside. Till now, a meagre 35 applications have been submitted to the interim authority by builders for registration. The interim authority which is taking its own time to register any applicant blames the builders for the delay citing that they have failed to submit documents in the proper format.
What raises eyebrows is the government’s decision to set up an interim authority even as the Act mandates all states to set up a full-fledged regulatory authority. In another lackadaisical approach, the government set up the interim regulatory authority’s office at APSRTC House in Vijayawada and deployed just a meagre staff to receive applications from realtors.In this scenario, builders seem to be having a free run, carrying on with their construction activity without fear of the regulatory authority.
No functional website yet
Municipal Administration and Urban Development Principal Secretary R Karikal Valaven, who is also the chairman of the interim regulatory authority, said the website to allow builders and agents upload their documents for registration would be launched soon. Currently only the beta version is available