As the crucial Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act gets rolled out from May 1 aiming towards safeguarding the interest of home buyers, the Goa Government is all set to notify RERA rules under Central Act for the State real estate industry within three months.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016 was passed by Parliament in March last year and all the 92 sections of the Act comes into effect from May 1. The Union Government has introduced the legislation to protect home buyers and encourage genuine private players.

The State’s department of Town and Country Planning (TCP) has already drafted RERA rules under the central Act, which ensures to protect the interest of the buyers. The draft rules were placed before the then Government, just before assembly elections.

Minister for TCP Vijay Sardessai said that the department has already drafted RERA rules and the same are under consideration of the Government. “We will notify the rules within three months from now,” Sardesai said, adding that the rules would be notified considering the State’s requirement.

Although the RERA legislation of 2016 becomes effective across India, very few states have notified regulations under it. According to Section 85 of the Act, rules are required to be notified by the regulatory authority within three months of its formation. Goa is one amongst those States’s that has not notified RERA rules.

Sardesai justified the delay in notifying the rules, citing election code of conduct as a reason. The code came into force from January 4 and continued till March 11.

“A regulatory body would be put in place to regulate the real estate. The sole purpose of RERA is to protect the interest of the buyers,” Sardessai said.

“Once notified and implemented, the RERA could offer relief to existing buyers of real estate properties,” he added.

Team TNV