Property insurance to be made mandatory

In a bid to protect property buyers from unscrupulous developers, who construct weak structures to maximise profits, the government plans to make property insurance compulsory, the premium of which would be borne by developers.

Developers will also be required to get layouts and designs approved by registered architects apart from getting general clearance from local bodies. The urban development ministry is giving final touches to the Real Estate Management and Regulation Bill that stipulates constituting state-level regulators to monitor real estate development in cities.

Apart from scrutinising building plans and ensuring mandatory insurance of buildings, the regulator would also make sure the developer has all necessary amenities such as water and electricity connections, lifts and parking facilities. Buildings would also have to be quake-resistant.

The Bill is slated to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament. "It would be a model law to be incorporated by other states. Delhi would have to mandatorily put a real estate regulator in place after the Bill gets passed by the Parliament. With the coming of regulator, all scrupulous activities of builders duping end-users would be curbed to a great extent," minister of state for urban development Ajay Maken told ET.

At present, the city dwellers are facing hard times coping with the problem of inadequate parking. In cities like Delhi, parking problems have lead to instances when people shoot down each other in fist of fury. To tackle the problems, when passing the lay-out plans, the architect would keep in mind that ample space or floors have been dedicated to parking.

There have also been instances, when people, after taking possession of house, do not find adequate water and electricity connections. Real estate players, however, believe the big players in the market have been always adhering to the measures. These are mainly fly-by-night operators where there is a yawning gap between promises and deliverance.

"In any case, we have set standards to comply before we deliver apartments or bungalows. If a legislation comes into place, it would put an end to the practices of small players," Parsvnath chairman Pradeep Jain said.