Property cards and RERA to bring transparency

Lucknow

Recently the much-anticipated Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA), 2016, came into effect after both the Houses of Parliament passed the historic bill. RERA is expected to streamline the sluggish real estate sector protecting the harried buyers. Apart from RERA, property cards, being introduced by few states recently, will go a long way in protecting the rights of genuine property owners. Gujarat was amongst the first states that announced conversion of all property ownership titles to property cards. As per the government order, all property ownership records or titles are to be transferred on these 'property cards'.

Furthermore, like in other progressive states of the country, property cards can also be introduced in UP. The state can take cue from Gujarat, and introduce these cards to gain confidence and protect interest of real estate buyers in UP.

Pradeep Misra, director, Paarth Infrabuild Private Limited, says, "Property cards, in the process of being made compulsory in some states, shall bring in much required transparency in the real estate sector. Similarly, RERA will help both buyers as well as builders. It will help provide a quick remedy for homebuyers' complaints, as according to RERA regulatory authorities in states have to dispose off any case within sixty days, from the date of its filing. On the other hand, builders with shady work and bad intent will get punished immediately. So, those builders who bring bad name to real estate will be eliminated from the market."

Presently, all over the country, getting physical verification of properties done is a tedious job, and many are benami properties done through benami transactions. While these are made, transparency may come in to the land records. Property cards are being made in the form of smart cards and authorities plans to link it with Aadhaar Card.

Both, the central and state governments are working hard to curb and eradicate illegal transactions and bring transparency. SP Sharma, an advocate, informs, "RERA contains penal provisions for errant builders, appellate tribunals for adjudication of disputes, escrow account in bank, completion certificate and others provisions for regulating the sector. The state government should implement property card project."

A Rastogi, an architect, avers, "For attracting more investments, both domestic and overseas, and to provide `Housing for all by 2022', implementation of property cards and RERA are the dire need of time."

Sanjay Gupta, Times Property, The Times of India, Lucknow