The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed ‘The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015’ and Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said it aims to protect the interests of buyers and bring more transparency in the sector.

Around 76,044 companies are involved in the real estate sector, which has unfortunately been seen in poor light on account of unscrupulous activities of some developers.

To solve the issue of delayed possession of houses, the Bill provides for submitting 70 per cent of the money taken from buyers in a separate account. The funds from this account can only be utilised for construction activities. This will also prevent the builder from transferring money to new projects, thereby providing relief to buyers of existing ones.

In case, the builder fails to give possession of the property within stipulated time, he would be liable to pay interest on it.

The projects will be sold on the basis of carpet area instead of super area. Now, carpet area includes kitchen and toilets.

Under the proposed law, if projects over 500 square metre or 8 apartments are not registered, penalty up to 10% of the cost will be levied on the builder.

The maximum jail term for a developer who violates the order of the appellate tribunal of the RERA is three years with or without a fine.

The Bill provides for registration of all real estate projects with state-level Real Estate Regulatory Authorities to be set up, requiring developers to disclose project information including details of the promoter, project, lay-out plan, land status, status of approvals, agreements along with details of real estate agents, contractors, architects and structural engineers.