The long awaited Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill was amended by the Union

Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi on 7 th April, 2015.The
New Bill will bring relief to millions of buyers and investors and will also curb several
malpractices adopted in this sector by mighty and unregulated builders. The New Bill covers
residential projects as well as commercial projects. The amendment in the New Bill was
passed by the Union Cabinet to help the Government of India to achieve the objective of
providing Housing for all by 2022. Time and fair play being the most important factors
have also been kept in mind will formulation of the New Bill.
The New Bill has made it mandatory for registration of new and ongoing project. On receipt
of application of registration, the authority will be granting registration within a period of 15
days and if the Authority fails to grant or reject the application within 15 days, the project will
be deemed to have been registered. All registered promoters will be provided with a separate
registration number, login ID and a password to login into the website of the authority where
they can create their own web page, where all the details related to their project will be
provided to the public.
The New Bill has also provided for establishment of Real Estate Regulatory Authorities which
will work in each state /Union Territories and will resolve disputes related to real estate. Real
Estates Appellate Tribunals have also been established, where appeals against the orders of
Real Estate Regulatory Authorities will be heard and will be headed by a sitting or retired
judge of High Court with one judicial and one technical/ administrative member. For speedy
adjudication of disputes, Fast Track Dispute Settlement Mechanism has been adopted for
which the adjudicating officer will be a District Judge. Under the New Bill The Central
Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, establish Central Advisory Council to
give advice and make recommendations to the Central Government on matters relating to the
Bill, protection of consumers interest, development and growth of real estate sector or any
other matter which may be assigned by the Central Government to it.
The New Bill also gives some relief to the promoters by making it compulsory for the
promoters to deposit 50% of the total amount of the project released from buyers in an escrow
account within 15 days to meet the construction cost, earlier which was 70% in the Bill
presented in Rajya Sabha in August 2013. It has also been stated that once a project has been
disclosed to the public and registered, it cannot be altered unless the developer has got consent
of at least 2/3rd of the allotees. Promoters are further prohibited from accepting advance
payment or application fees of more than 10% of the cost of apartment without entering into a
written agreement with the buyer.
Any violation of Rules under the New Bill may result to de-registration of the project and also
lead to penalties in case of contravention of provisions of the New Bill. Non compliance may

lead to a penalty of 10% of the project cost and any misinformation provided may lead to a
penalty of 5% of the project cost.
Buyers have also been provided with a right to claim refund with interest and compensation in
case where a promoter fails to deliver a project. The New Bill has also prohibited the sale on
basis of super area and the developers will have to advertise carpet area for sale.
The New Bill has brought transparency and accountability in real estate transactions with a
major role to curb undeclared black money, as the builders earlier used to demand part money
in cash. The New Bill has given hopes to many buyers to own their own home without any
conspiracies and frauds through a systematic and fair way.