CHENNAI: The implementation of Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA), 2016, will be reviewed by Union Housing secretary Durga Shankar and Tamil Nadu chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan over the next one week.
This development comes as the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has asked the State to set up a permanent regulatory authority and appellate tribunal to ensure that real estate transactions are not hit.
It is learnt that additional secretary in the ministry, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, will be in Chennai on August 18 to review implementation of RERA in Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, after which Union Housing secretary Durga Shankar will review the progress of all urban schemes and RERA later in the day.
Similarly, chief secretary Vaidyanathan will review the progress on RERA and the regularisation of unauthorised layouts, as well as simplification of procedures for building plan approval on August 22.
The interim head of Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) is being shifted into CMDA premises after earlier moves to establish it in Guindy. The move has resulted in the High Court-appointed monitoring committee member MG Deivasahayam stating that CMDA is attempting to influence the regulator. He has also hit out at the move of appointing former CMDA officials without undergoing selection process for the post, stating that it will undermine the whole process of having a real estate regulator.
Another issue is the subsequent Government Orders over how financial transactions under TNRERA has to be carried out. There have been two Government Orders over remitting the registration fee in the bank account. The initial order by TNRERA on July 11 stated that the registration fee needs to be remitted under State Bank of India (State government account) or in any of the treasuries or sub treasuries.
This GO was immediately amended, stating that the fee has to be remitted in Indian Bank of CMDA branch in Egmore. “Why was the amount not being deposited in State government account or in treasuries, when TNRERA is handling not only realty issues pertaining to the State but also of Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” wondered a former official.
The 2016 Real Estate Regulation and Development Act was notified by the state only on June 22 this year. After the notification, the State government failed to act until the Centre told the officials to carry out the registration manually in July before a website is in place.
As a result, the authority started manually registering the projects. A website was created only a week later and this failed to function properly. However, the Centre has given the State time till March next year to have a website ready.