The real estate bill will bring in much needed transparency and accountability in the real estate sector, minister for housing and urban poverty alleviation and culture Kumari Selja said here on Wednesday.

“The real estate bill seeks to enforce public disclosure while ensuring an enabling environment and attempts to carefully balance the interests of both the consumers and the developers by imposing certain clear responsibilities on both of them,” she said addressing participants gathered for a day-long consultation on draft real estate (development and regulation) bill.

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The draft bill, framed as a central legislation, aims to establish a uniform regulatory environment for the real estate sector in the country to safeguard the interests of consumers and to promote planned and orderly growth of the real estate and housing sectors.

The draft bill has been put up on the website of the ministry inviting comments from various stakeholders.

It provides for the establishment of a state level regulatory authority in each state and aims to institute transparency and accountability in real estate and housing transactions by enforcing mandatory public disclosure, standardization and fair practices.

The minister said the bill also attempts at building confidence within investor and clients. “Along with the mandatory public disclosure, the first track dispute resolution mechanism is expected to speed up delivery of justice, which would further augment credibility, and facilitate larger investments in this sector in the long run,” she said.

The real estate sector has grown rapidly in recent years. However, much of this growth has been unregulated, with complaints of malpractices and lack of proper accountability on the part of builders and developers.

The bill is expected to ensure greater accountability towards consumers, significantly reduce frauds and delays, and pave the way for accelerated investments and growth of the industry in the long term.