The decision of Noida and Greater Noida authorities to ‘finally’ adopt the UP Apartment Act, 2010 has barely elicited any positive response. Instead the decision has been widely criticised for being a mockery and eyewash. Alok Kumar, president, federation of apartment owner’s association (FAOA), Ghaziabad says that the law was implemented in 2010 and the government had already notified the Act and the by-laws. To adopt it separately does not make sense. Kumar says that home owners are wary that the law will not cover all projects.

“Home owners are afraid that builders in already sanctioned projects will get away with irregularities because the authority deciding to adopt the law now might make every project sanctioned prior to the declaration null and void,” he says. Kumar says that even the Ghaziabad authority was reluctant to enforce the Act. They adopted the law only after he filed a PIL in 2012.

Advocate S K Pal of the Allahabad high court says that the decision was taken keeping in mind the Supertech twin towers case. In April this year, Allahabad high court had ordered the demolition of two illegally constructed towers by Supertech. It had also ordered the errant officials at Noida authority to be taken to task for not adhering to the UP Apartment Act. “Noida authority is creating confusion to save itself. They will tell the courts that earlier UP Industrial Act, 1976 was in force. So they did not circumvent the rules,” he says.

Pal says that even then their argument will not hold in the court of law. “Industrial development Act is restricted only to the industry. The authority should have only stuck to the industry. They should have created a separate body to deal with residential properties,” he says.

Vijay Trivedi, director, Noida Extension flat owner’s and member’s association (NEFOMA) welcomes the move but feels that the delay in implementation only exacerbates the confusion. “We seek to have clarity with regard to which projects will come under the ambit of the law. Whether they will include projects sanctioned before the June 2, 2014 (the day the decision to adopt the Act was announced by the authority) or it will only apply to new projects,” he says.

In a statement released by confederation of real estate developer’s in India (CREDAI) NCR, president Mr. Rohit Raj Modi says that the filing of deed of declaration on approval of plans is one of the key areas of concern. The statement reads, “This document requires spelling out the common areas in detail and any modification requires the approval of the allottees in the project. This causes problems in large projects which are developed in phases over many years. The entire land parcel of say 100 acres is considered as one project for the purpose of this deed even though the first phase may only be 10 acres. Future phases will invariably require changes due to market or regulatory reasons. Such changes are not possible in the current scenario as taking consent from allottees is not practical. Our suggestion is that the deed of declaration ought to be filed after obtaining completion certificate as is the case in Haryana. Alternatively, there should be a provision of declaring common areas phase wise so that future areas can be planned as per the prevailing market or regulatory scenario”.