Introduction

With the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, one of the sectors that have seen considerable activity has been the real estate sector. Urbanisation and aspirations have fueled housing demand and seen the entry of many players in the sector, even as traditional players have grown in size. The tendency to take deposits but start new projects before delivering on promises made to deposit holders, always prevalent, had become quite noticeable by the first decade of the twenty first century. A trust deficit between developers and home buyers was a pressing concern and instances of failure to deliver to home buyers or excessive delays was a common refrain. Home buyers could seek redressal through the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. This brought some financial relief for the aggrieved and possibly functioned as a check on the more egregious acts of developers. However, by itself, this did not really guarantee project completion or the growth of an efficient, reliable and orderly real estate sector.

In order to facilitate transparency and consumer protection, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, drafted a Model Real Estate (Regulation of Development) Act in 2009, to invite comments and suggestions as well as to serve as a template for the states to prepare their specific versions of the legislation. This preceded to formulate and enact the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), 2016.

Implementation Progress of RERA

The Act mandated the setting up of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (REAT) in each State and Union Territory (UT), which would function under the state-specific version of the regulations. As of June 2023, all States and UTs have notified rules under RERA, except Nagaland, which is in the process to notify the same.

Table: Implementation progress of RERA in India