The Draft Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Bill, 2011 seeks to establish a regulatory mechanism to enforce disclosure, fair practice and accountability norms in the real estate sector, and to provide adjudication machinery for speedy dispute redressal. Currently, the real estate and housing sector is largely unregulated and opaque, with consumers often unable to procure complete information, or enforce accountability against builders and developers in the absence of effective regulation. The sector, in recent years, has also emerged as a source of black money and corruptions in the economy. The Bill is expected to ensure greater accountability towards consumers, bring transparency and fairness in transactions and reduce frauds and delays significantly. The Bill is also intended to promote regulated and orderly growth through efficiency, professionalism and standardization. Registration of Real Estate Project As per Section 3 of the Bill, No promoter shall develop any immovable property or make any construction on the land exceeding 4000 square meters without registering the real estate project and obtaining the certificate of registration from the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. Each phase of the same project shall be required to registered separately. The promoter shall apply for the registration along with the authenticated copy of all the approval & sanction obtained from the competent authority as may be applicable for the real estate project and promoter’s declaration stating that followings: • The promoter has clear & marketable title over the land • The Land is free from all encumbrances or the case may be, of the encumbrances on such land. • The project shall be completed as per the projections • Seventy percent of the amount realized for the real estate project would be deposited in a separate project account for meeting the only cost of the project. • Agree to submit any further documents as may be prescribed or required by Authority. The Authority shall complete the procedure of the scrutiny of the application within 30 days. No application shall be rejected unless the applicant has been given an opportunity of being heard. The authority shall, after registration, issue a Login Id and password to the applicant to create his web page and to fill therein the details of the project. The registration to the promoter should not be renewed more than two years. Upon lapse of the registration or cancellation of the registration under this Act or if the promoter fails to complete the project as per the registration, the Authority in consultation with Government may take the appropriate steps including the carrying out the development works by competent authority or by the association of allottees or in any other ways. The Authority shall pass the appropriate orders against the defaulting promoters such as directing him to return the money with interest, damages and inscribing his in the list of defaulters on its website. OBLIGATION OF PROMOTERS The promoter shall enter all the following details of the proposed project : • Details of the sanction accorded by competent authority • Details of the registration granted by authority • True disclosure of the title of the land • Full disclosure of the entity of the promoter and its registration details • Periodically updating the list of the booking on the basis of the agreement to sell • Performa of agreement to sell • The number and carpet area of each unit for sale in the project • The plan development works • The name and addresses of real estate agents • The name and address of the architect, engineers and other persons associated with project. • No advertisement and prospectus shall be issued unless filed with authority. • The promoter shall be responsible to make available the allottee all the documents such as approval of government, title to the land etc. • The promoter takes steps for the formation of an association or society of the allottees. • Obtain the completion certificate of the project • To strictly adhere to the approved plans and project specifications. The promoter shall rectify the defects in the development or services if brought to his notice within a year. • The promoter shall effectively transfer the title in favour of the allottee upon completion of the project. • The promoter shall return the amount with interest if he is unable to give possession of the property. Real Estate Appellate Tribunal Any person or appropriate government or competent authority aggrieved by any direction or order of the Authority may prefer an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal within a period of thirty days. The appeal shall be disposed of within a period of ninety days from the date of filing. Where any such appeal could not be disposed of within a period of ninety days, the Appellate Tribunal shall record reasons in writing for not disposing of the appeal within that period.
Category Archives: Regulatory Compliance
Data Security Law India
Protection of data is paramount in an IT environment particularly for outsourcing Industry. Loss of sensitive information and customer proprietary data leads to huge financial losses and loss of reputation and disruption or closure of business. Customers lose confidence even if a small threat is detected in the system. Indian IT sector and KPO sector is primarily dependent on the global outsourcing model, confidentiality breach or data theft can seriously undermine customer confidence and adversely affect Indian IT Industry. In view of this new Section 43A in the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 is a welcome addition. This section provides clear directions in personal data protection and affords restitution to the damaged party. It will help shore global confidence in Indian statutes due to the visibility it provides in the instances of negligent or intentional acts by Indian IT firms.
According to the act if an organisation dealing in proprietary data is found negligent in implementing and maintaining reasonable data security measures, it will be held responsible for any data loss or damage and will be liable to pay compensation to the affected party. This includes any company and includes a firm, sole proprietorship or other association of individuals engaged in commercial or professional activities.
The definition in the act states – “reasonable security practices and procedures” means security practices and procedures designed to protect such information from unauthorised access, damage, use, modification, disclosure or impairment, as may be specified in an agreement between the parties or as may be specified in any law for the time being in force and in the absence of such agreement or any law, such reasonable security practices and procedures, as may be prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with such professional bodies or associations as it may deem fit.”
It is mandatory for an external independent accreditation agency to conduct periodical audits in data security operations along with provision of certificates like that of financial operations of an organisation will help in strict compliance.
Law of Customer Service of Banks India
The RBI took the following decisions for improving Customer Service of Banks at the Annual Conference of Banking Ombudsmen held in the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai on Sep 5, 2011:
Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) will standardise most important terms and conditions (MITC) for at least ten important banking transactions and circulate among banks for adaptation.
Banks would initiate the process of providing one view of all bank accounts of a customer including deposits, loans, etc., with the help of available technology, such as, core banking solution. Banks would be complete the process within one year.
Banks would convey to the Reserve Bank, a consensus view on the recommendations of the Damodaran Committee Report on Customer Service in Banks that could be immediately implemented.
To create awareness about the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, the Banking Ombudsmen will annually share with local media, information regarding complaints received and resolved, including important cases and awards given.
A series of town-hall events will be organised by banks to generate awareness about customer service in banks. Bank customers, bank officials and Banking Ombudsmen will participate in these events.
The Reserve Bank/IBA would examine the issues pertaining to monetary compensation for mental harassment suffered by bank customers. Issues that may receive attention in the analysis would be:
Whether only actual loss should be considered for compensation
Whether mental harassment issues can be codified for compensation and whether compensation should be capped
Whether the policies of the banks’ boards on compensation should include mental harassment as a ground for compensation
Banks should issue tax deduction at source (TDS) certificates duly completed in all respects to the account holders and despatch it to their mailing address.
In case of ATM/Internet based banking transactions, in the event of any monetary dispute involving the customer and the bank, the onus should be on the bank to prove the customer’s negligence or mistake. Customer must be compensated for the losses arising out of customers’ non-authorised
transactions.
Banks’ should initiate steps to incorporate in their code of ‘Fair Practices to the Customers’ the following items -
Insurance of some reasonable amount on their customers’ credit and debit card transactions
Providing periodical loan statements to small borrowers
Borrowers should be conveyed information on the annualised all-in cost (Annual Effective Rate) on their loan accounts.
Banks must not recover pre-payment charges in floating rate loans. Banks may also offer long-term fixed rate housing loans to their customers and address their asset liability mismatch (ALM) issues by recourse to the Interest Rate Swaps (IRS) market. Floating rate loans pass on the interest rate risk from banks which are much better placed to manage it to borrowers and, thus, banks only substitute interest rate risk with potential credit risk. The bank will, however, be free to recover / charge appropriate pre-payment penalties in the
case of fixed rate loans.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority guideliens
The IRDA on 20 Sep 2011 has advised all life and non life insurers to develop a mechanism of their own to handle claims rejected on the ground of delayed submission of intimation and documents due to unavoidable circumstances so that settlement of genuine claims is not prevented.
The IRDA on 20 Sep 2011 has modified guidelines for Individual Agents for Persistency of Life Insurance Policies. The circular is accessible from the website of IRDA.
The IRDA on 16 Sep 201 has decided for the Creation of Indian specific ACORD standards for the Indian Insurance Market. The order is accessible from the website of IRDA.
The IRDA has released its monthly journal (Theme: Reinforcing Business Priorities – Life Insurance Lapsation) on 14 September 2011 and is placed on its website for access by the general public.
The IRDA, vide circular IRDA/HLT/MISC/CIR/209/09/2011 dated 9 Sep 2011 has set out guidelines with the detailed procedure on health insurance portability.
The IRDA vide circular no. IRDA/NL/CIR/HLTH/207/09/2011dated 6 Sep 2011 has withdrawn with immediate effect the circular dated 16th December, 2005. It is notified that the Licensed TPAs cannot enter into arrangements for servicing health schemes promoted, sponsored or approved by any non-insurance body including Central, State, Local Governments, Firms, Corporates etc. during the subsistence of the TPA license granted by the IRDA. If anybody currently licensed to operate as a TPA in India is desirous of offering such services to schemes promoted, sponsored or approved by any body other than insurance companies, then such a TPA shall first surrender its TPA license and remove itself from the regulatory purview of the IRDA and thereafter may pursue such course of action as it deem appropriate. It may be noted that on surrender of license, the body shall not carry the word TPA in its name.
Compliance Law for temprorary workforce India
Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 2010 (No. 24 of 2010) had come into effect on 15-09-2010. It become mandatory for setting up of Grievance Redressal Machinery for the Temporary Work force by virtue of this amendment. The organization must set up the Grievance Redressal Committee if it employing 20 or more workman. There should be equal number of members from employer and the workman. The total number of member on this committee should not exceed more than six.
Section 9 C reads as under:
9C. (1) Every industrial establishment employing twenty or more workmen shall
have one or more Grievance Redressal Committee for the resolution of disputes
arising out of individual grievances.
(2) The Grievance Redressal Committee shall consist of equal number of members from the employer and the workmen.
(3) The chairperson of the Grievance Redressal Committee shall be selected from
the employer and from among the workmen alternatively on rotation basis every
year.
(4) The total number of members of the Grievance Redressal Committee shall not exceed more than six:
Provided that there shall be, as far as practicable one woman member if the Grievance Redressal Committee has two members and in case the number of members are more than two, the number of women members may be increased
proportionately.
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the setting up of Grievance Redressal Committee shall not affect the right of the workman to raise industrial dispute on the same matter under the provisions of this Act.
(6) The Grievance Redressal Committee may complete its proceedings within thirty days on receipt of a written application by or on behalf of the aggrieved party.
(7) The workman who is aggrieved of the decision of the Grievance Redressal Committee may prefer an appeal to the employer against the decision of Grievance Redressal Committee and the employer shall, within one month from the date of receipt of such appeal, dispose off the same and send a copy of his
decision to the workman concerned.
If Establishment will come within the definition of Industry, please read Sec 2 (j) of the Industrial Disputes Act defines “industry” means any systematic activity carried on by co-operation between an employer and his workmen (whether such workmen are employed by such employer directly or by or through any agency, including a contractor) for the production, supply or distribution of goods or services with a view to satisfy human wants or wishes (not being wants or wishes which are merely spiritual or religious in nature), whether or not, – (i) any capital has been invested for the purpose of carrying on such activity; or
(ii) such activity is carried on with a motive to make any gain or profit, and ncludes –
(a) any activity of the Dock Labour Board established under section 5A of the Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1948 (9 of 1949);
(b) any activity relating to the promotion of sales or business or both carried on by an establishment, but does not include – (1) any agricultural operation except where such agricultural operation is carried on in an integrated manner with any other activity (being any such activity as is referred to in the foregoing provisions of this clause) and such other activity is the predominant one.
Explanation : For the purposes of this sub-clause, “agricultural operation” does not include any activity carried on in a plantation as defined in clause (f) of section 2 of the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 (69 of 1951); or
(2) hospitals or dispensaries; or (3) educational, scientific, research or training institutions; or (4) institutions owned or managed by organizations wholly or
substantially engaged in any charitable, social or philanthropic service; or
(5) khadi or village industries; or
(6) any activity of the Government relatable to the sovereign functions of the Government including all the activities carried on by the departments of the central Government dealing with defence research, atomic energy and space; or
(7) any domestic service; or
(8 ) any activity, being a profession practised by an individual or body of individuals, if the number of persons employed by the individuals or body of individuals in relation to such profession is less than ten; or
(9) any activity, being an activity carried on by a co-operative society or a club or any other like body of individuals, if the number of persons employed by the co-operative society, club or other like body of individuals in relation to such activity is less than ten;
Posted in Regulatory Compliance
Tagged 2010, Compliance Law for temprorary workforce India, Grievance Redressal Machinery for employee, Grievance Redressal Machinery for the Temporary Work, Grievance Redressal of employees, Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, Industrial Disputes Amendment, Regulatory Compliance law India
