Does Indian real estate regulation protect urban homebuyers? policy implications

Chawla, Neelam; Kumar, Basanta Article Does Indian real estate regulation protect urban homebuyers? policy implications Cogent Business & Management Provided in Cooperation with: Taylor & Francis Group Suggested Citation: Chawla, Neelam; Kumar, Basanta (2022) : Does Indian real estate regulation protect urban homebuyers? policy implications, Cogent Business & Management, ISSN 2331-1975, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, Vol. 9, Iss. 1, pp. 1-27, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/289232 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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Published online: 04 Sep 2022. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 3620 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 2 View citing articles ACCOUNTING, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & BUSINESS ETHICS | RESEARCH ARTICLE Does Indian real estate regulation protect urban homebuyers? policy implications Neelam Chawla 1 and Basanta Kumar 2 * Abstract: The proponents claim that the Indian Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERDA, 2016/Act) has saved homebuyers from exploitation by promoters’ evasive and aggressive approach and has impacted society. The paper, while discussing the relevant statutory provisions and judicial decisions protecting urban homebuyers’ interests, examines the reactions of 751 respondents, comprising homebuyers, unsuccessful buyers, builders, officials, and nine experts, using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and the chisquare test. The findings show that builders’ lobbying and regulatory capture exploit homebuyers. Timely judiciary interventions have eased builders’ obstacles, allowing builders and governments to safeguard homebuyers’ interests. Politics and interstate tensions create homebuyers’ owes. Violation of ethical principles is a common practice. However, the Act’s performance remains uneven six years after its adoption. Our results on real estate reform might help policymakers, and planners, alter current laws in a worldwide competitive economy. Our findings suggest that a law’s success in a country’s development depends on political will, design, alignment with development objectives, flexibility, efficacy, and adaptability to socioeconomic realities. The study has implications for research on the real estate market’s theory, policy, and socioeconomic practice. Subjects: Business & Company Law; Regulation; Sociology; Property; Business, Management and Accounting Keywords: builder; cities; homebuyers; real estate; RERA; RERDA ABOUT THE AUTHORS Dr. Neelam Chawla is serving as an Associate Professor at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Guru Govind Singh University, New Delhi, India for more than twelve years. She specialises in business and corporate laws. She follows the same research pursuit along with governance and public policy, corporate social responsibility, civil society and women empowerment. Dr. Basanta Kumar, post-retirement from Utkal University, India, is an Academic, Research, and Legal Advisor. Now he practices in the Orissa High Court. He is an avid researcher in the areas of laws and regulatory reforms, consumer rights protection, microfinance interventions, governance and public policy, CSR, public distribution system, housing and real estate industry, and micro and small enterprise development. Dr. Kumar is a certified Publons Reviewer. He works closely with the Academy of Business and Emerging Markets (ABEM) in Canada, the Asia Pacific Consortium of Researchers and Educators (APCoRE) in Manila, and the European Marketing Academy (EMAC) in Belgium. Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 1 of 27 Received: 31 July 2022 Accepted: 22 August 2022 *Corresponding author: Basanta Kumar, Academic, Research and Legal Advisor, Former Professor Xavier University and Utkal University, Bhubaneswar 751010, India E-mail: [email protected] Reviewing editor: Collins G. Ntim, Accounting, University of Southampton, Southampton United Kingdom Additional information is available at the end of the article © 2022 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. 1. Introduction A growing population and urbanization bring with them social, economic, and environmental issues that have an impact on housing. 1 With the increasing urbanization trend, 80–90% of the population will live in cities by 2100, putting pressure on housing markets (United Nations, 2017). Urbanization heralds a surge in economic growth (Henderson, 2010; Turok & McGranahan, 2013)- brings more global capital and foreign direct investment (FDI) for infrastructure development, particularly in urban housing and real estate businesses (Lin et al., 2018; Van Doorn et al., 2019). While unprecedented urban growth provides an unparalleled opportunity for local economic development, residents require suitable and affordable housing—a challenge that remains a global issue. 2 Providing a higher standard of living in cities has also become a crucial problem for urban planning (Mouratidis, 2021). Urban planning, if not correctly addressed through regulation and policy, a reduction in the urban residential area, living space, and housing stock, as well as a rise in real estate value, will be a challenging task (Mendonça et al., 2020). Globalization supports and influences urban regions as economic entities, and among others, it has heralded real estate requirements (NORGES Bank, 2015). Urbanization under globalization results from a multifaceted society, a complex economy, and an interconnected culture; it is becoming more open and more affected and restricted by external causes (Hu & Chen, 2015). In the face of many changes to urban settings affected by globalization, factors like new regulatory interventions are essential to reflect and organize global, national, and local changes (Da Cunha et al., 2012). Most countries’ housing and real estate markets feature strong government involvement in regulation, policy measures, and various fiscal concessions. As a result, the markets are highly complex, since economic and “extra-economic” factors influence the outcome. These factors also affect the pricing, volume, composition, and structure of real estate markets. Using the work of Bardhan and Kroll (2007), Da Cunha et al. (2012), and NORGES Bank (2015), Figure 1 illustrates the underlying economic, legal, and other variables that affect real estate’s reaction to globalization. Such an analysis gives rise to a different way of looking at the relationship between real estate and social and economic issues. Specifically, this refers to the competitive aspect, economics, and social control of the sector. Moving along a similar trend, India also faces challenges regulating housing and real estate markets (McGranahan & Martine, 2012). Studying the legal and policy issues governing such an essential market in an Indian context makes sense. 1.1. Real estate market in the Indian context States’ property laws primarily govern Indian housing markets, including land transfer, ownership, and registration. Before 2008, there were no regulations to monitor the housing, retail, hospitality, and commercial real estate markets. 3 The government’s limited responsibilities included land allocation and issuing licenses and approvals. 4 Middle-class Indians, primarily urban settlers, have suffered significantly due to real estate builders’, promoters’, and agents’ exploitative attitudes and aggressive approaches (Mahadevia, 2001). 5 The market was unregulated. Most developers were family-owned businesses. There were severe ethical issues. Developers used to require homebuyers to sign unilateral contracts with strict payment terms. The promise to deliver land or apartments (flats) on time was a futile exercise. 6 They charged exorbitant interest even with a day’s delay in an installment payment. Cost escalation frequently caused anger and frustration due to uncertainty in the delivery and refund of settlements in disputes. 7 Many cities’ housing project promoters created artificial scarcity 8 through deceptive advertisements and information, luring prospective homebuyers to rush into bookings. The government was aware of the promoters’ constant harassment, lawsuits, and other problems. Because of the attractive returns, many global and domestic corporate houses and investors jumped into Indian real estate after 2008. The market expanded quickly, but it had flaws like creating supply without estimating demand. Developers’ land banks and project launches heavily influenced pricing and valuation. These practices caused fiscal irregularities and project delays. 9 In addition, homebuyers 10 could not receive complete information or hold builders accountable without an effective mechanism. Some aggrieved buyers obtained relief from the courts under Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 2 of 27 the Consumer Protection Act (COPRA), 1986, but builders prolonged the litigation by exploiting arbitration clause loopholes. 11 Furthermore, the construction works were defective in violation of the guidelines of the National Building Code of India. 12 Even the promoters violated their ethical standard as envisaged through their association’s “Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice” (National Association of Realtors-India). 13 Homebuyers’ option of moving to consumer courts was still inadequate to redress their concerns. Because the land was a state issue, state governments governed and controlled the real estate business, each with its own rules, creating complications due to a lack of standardization. Because the industry was almost opaque, unregulated, and unaccountable until 2016, there was a need for legislation to protect consumers’ (i.e., homebuyers’) interests and boost the economy. India needed to counter the negative impact of the unregulated real estate market by improving EoDB and inviting more FDI. 14 Regulatory reforms were necessary for India’s changing macroeconomic policies (Mitra & Singh, 2010). After almost eight years of debate, from May 2008 to March 2016, the Indian government passed the Act on 25 March 2016 to regulate the real estate industry and benefit homebuyers. 15 Research on real estate regulation, homebuyers (primary beneficiaries), and social linkage is essential. Economic analysis of legislation forecasts the impact of laws on individual incentives and behavior and evaluates the societal efficiency of alternative rules (Holman, 2004; Kaplow & Shavell, 1999). This analysis yields different results (Popa, 2021). Policy punctuations vary based on political change. Regulatory changes link law and society, altering organizational domains and executive leadership (John & Bevan, 2012). We noticed this change in India after May 2014 with the new regulation’s implementation to fix homebuyers’ complaints in 2016. In this context, the Indian government’s legal policy and perspectives on urban housing and real estate markets to ensure the quality of life for urban settlers owning a dream home (one’s ideal residence) take on research importance. As a result, the primary goal of this paper is to critically examine the various provisions of the Act that arguably protect the interests of consumers, particularly urban homebuyers. Additionally, we analyze their impact on them and society. Figure 1. Interplay of globalization and real estate markets. Source: Authors’ design. Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 3 of 27 2. Literature review and research gap Shelter, houses, and homes are three levels of housing that are basic physiological needs (Miller Lane, 2006; Oliver, 1978). According to Bachelard (1994), intimacy, daydreams, imagination, and memories affect a home’s establishment. Making a distinction between these three, Oliver (1978) and Miller Lane (2006) viewed the home as a connotative social system, reflecting the family’s relationship with home space. Bledsoe (2019) links it to life quality and humanizes housing. Higher happiness levels are higher among those who own a home (Cheng et al., 2020). These propositions imply that people want to build or buy their dream homes with hard-earned money. 16 As a critical infrastructure, housing is a large part of the real estate industry. Experts say housing drives economic growth (Van Dijk, 2019). Housing’s combined contribution to the GDP of the USA, UK, Australia, India, China, Japan, and Germany averages 3–18%, implying its contribution to nation-building. Acolin et al. (2021) confirm that the housing sector contributes around 13% to GDP in emerging market economies. As housing goes, so does the economy (Arku, 2006). Housing affects economic stability, labor mobility, productivity, affordability, human capital, and life chances. Consumption and spending affect the economy indirectly. Housing aids poverty reduction (Kisiała & Rącka, 2021; Leviten-Reid et al., 2021; Saguin, 2020; Singh et al., 2020). The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—2015, specifically Habitat for Humanity, demonstrate the importance of housing to people, communities, and the global economy. Housing affects life quality (Doling et al., 2013). India respects the UN’s right to adequate housing. According to macroeconomic policy, the Indian government’s housing policy has shifted from providing housing units to encouraging their provision (D’Souza, 2019; Gopalan & Venkataraman, 2015). Economically, housing lasts. Proper housing conditions improve household welfare by providing shelter. In addition to enabling better health, education, and nutrition, they also contribute to social benefits such as lower public health costs and the rule of law. It took several years to get clearance/approval from multiple agencies at the center and state levels—the environment department, development authority, municipal corporation, and fire safety. Costs and time discouraged many entrepreneurs, promoters, and builders. Inadequate regulations exacerbated the situation (Gopalan & Venkataraman, 2015). The analysis of homebuyers’ litigation-related case decisions suggests increasing complaints against builders/promoters and real estate agents for contract violations, construction defects, and poor service. The magnitude of the problem forced the Indian government to develop a firm housing policy and model Act, namely The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERDA, 2016/Act), in March 2016, effective May 2016. Adopting a State Act and Rules in response to RERDA, 2016, to regulate the housing and real estate industry and protect homebuyers is a positive step. Because of the exploitative real estate market, homebuyers’ investment in a lifetime dream home is complicated. Forbes believes housing is vital because consumers (homebuyers) value it, so the proposed Rules may build trust and make decisions easier. 17 These factors prompted research on homebuyers’ protection at the micro-level. Finding the research gap through a literature review is an essential academic exercise that has significance. Because the research focuses on 2016 real estate regulations governing urban housing and real estate markets, the research gap identification exercise scoured Mendeley, Google Scholar, SSRN, CORE, and DOAJ for impact assessment of law on the theme in general, spanning over 1900 articles published since 1998. We could not find an impact study on homebuyers or society. The first group was policy issues and measures that covered the analysis and debate of austerity measures, FDI, the financial crisis, housing equality, regulatory governance, and taxation difficulties. Studying socioeconomic factors as a second broad category included discriminatory treatment and harassment of builders, corruption in property, demand-supply issues, housing affordability, housing market assessment, housing pricing and/or bubble formation, poverty and housing needs, the public housing system and mortgage instruments, real estate business practices, and users’ housing motivation. There were a few studies on postimplementation legal issues. However, the research does not show how laws affect key actors’ behavior. In economics and Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 4 of 27 management, the law is only just coming into play in the housing industry, and its implications for the primary actors (homebuyers) are hardly apparent. The study fills this gap. Table 1 briefly enumerates the relevant features studied in the past. The forgone analysis brings home two research questions to ponder. First, is the RERDA, 2016 beneficial to homebuyers and society? The rationale behind it is that most individuals follow most laws the majority of the time. Nonetheless, increasing adherence is a critical component of a law’s success. Thus, compliance with legislation is an essential measure of its influence (Bogart, 2002). However, the ceremonial laws’ existence doesn’t always have the desired impact. Many nations don’t implement rules, apply them selectively, or can’t implement them (World Bank, 2017). In this context, the research question stems from the Act, which compels builders to work within the strict framework of government regulations and its regulatory board. Penal provisions appear stringent. Frivolous supply will automatically decrease because of restrictions on builders’ multiple projects at a time. Keeping homebuyers’ interests in mind, builders have no choice but to avoid risks and litigation. Therefore, the policy and impact assessment to answer the research question assumes significance. Second, does the regulation aid FDI inflow into India? The latest evidence is available to establish FDI’s relationship with economic growth (Çakërri et al., 2021; Miao et al., 2021). Because FDI flows are a well-studied and often-discussed topic, we won’t be looking at them in this exercise. Instead, we’ll be looking at the Act’s effects, a barren area of research, particularly on homebuyers and society as a whole. 2.1. Theory development and research model In contemporary society, the role of the law as an agent of social transformation is gaining prominence. The law is significant because it guides society’s acceptable behavior and brings about social change in a nation or area. It influences politics, the economy, and the community and mediates interpersonal connections. Social institutions enforce laws to control conduct Table 1. Research gap identification-highlights of literature survey Authors with year Important features studied Gastanaga et al. (1998), Berry et al. (2001), Asiedu (2002), Asiedu and Lien (2010), Büthe and Milner (2008), Mlachila and Takebe (2011), Ramsey-Musolf (2016), Glaeser (2017), Goering and Whitehead (2017), Biyase and Rooderick (2018), González-Val (2021) Policy issues and measures: ●Austerity measures ●FDI, Financial crisis ●Housing equity ●Regulatory governance ●Taxation issues. Gibb and Hoesli (2003), Stone (2006), Gabriel (2010), Bramley (2012), Zavei and Jusan (2012), Levitin and Wachter (2013), Mulliner & Maliene (2015), Courchane and Ross (2019), Roy (2018), Bartram (2019), Kusiak (2019), Li and Chau (2019), Haffner and Hulse (2019), Breuer and Steininger (2020), Malik et al. (2020) Socioeconomic features: ●Builders’ disparity treatment/ harassment ●Corruption in property ●Demand-supply issues ●Housing affordability ●Housing market assessment ●Housing pricing and/ or bubble formation ●Poverty and housing needs ●Public housing system and mortgage instruments ●Real estate business practices ●User’s housing motivation. Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 5 of 27 (Kostiner, 2003; Vago et al., 2017). Law influences the development and preserves civic liberty to promote economic growth. Law is vital because it maintains and supports internal stability and directs policies that nations should pursue throughout the development process, and it is susceptible to local variations (Y.-S. Lee, 2017). The law makes it simple to adapt to societal changes. There would be conflicts between social groups and communities if they did not exist (Armstrong & Frankot, 2020; Mather, 2013). As a result, we renew our belief that the law has been and continues to be critical in introducing societal structure and relationship changes. The quality of implementation of the law is another concern in understanding its effectiveness in serving people and society better. Analyzing Y.-S. Lee (2017), the quality of the law’s implementation involves regulatory enforcement. The law maintains order by performance, including regulatory enforcement. The legislation assesses its effectiveness by how well a state meets the requirements of the law, including its enforcement and monitoring measures. Cases of infractions (particularly those overlooked by the state), omissions, and poor state implementation affect execution quality. Incompetence and corruption hurt performance. In light of this, we build a research model to determine how RERDA affects homebuyers and society. Regulation stems from public concern about the impact of one or more businesses’ actions (Dixon et al., 2006). The Indian government enacted the Act primarily to protect homebuyers’ interests—timely project delivery, rescue from harassment by builders, and to boost the economy through industry-regulated growth. After six years of implementation, the government claims that the Act has empowered homebuyers and has protected their rights as consumers. There are a number of claims and reports with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs that indicate the government is proactive, the judiciary has effective intervention, and builders respect laws and regulations. 18 From the reference materials (Dimri, 2019; Kumar & Miryala, 2021) and a preliminary study, we found four primary factors impacting the Act’s impact on homebuyers and society. The factors are awareness of the Act (aa), delivery time (dt), builders’ harassment (bh), and grievance redress (gr). Mathematically, E = f(aa, dt, bh, gr). While recognizing various actors’ roles, the hypothesis (H₁) is that the Act did not protect homebuyers’ interests across the country; it was ineffective. There is no significant difference in the respondents’ opinions among the four factors (H₂: faa = fdt = fbh = fgr; alternatively, H₂: all factors are not the same). Figure 2 presents a research model for the proposed hypotheses. 3. Research methods and design The study reviews the policy implications of the Act’s postimplementation period and answers the specific research question of how the Act has impacted homebuyers, the prime stakeholders, with consequences for society. Accordingly, we adopted a research design, sampling method, and analytical tool. The sample was from across the country’s four zones (east, west, north, and south), with eight capital cities, two from each zone, to minimize the bias and answer the research question succinctly. The research used secondary and primary data. Secondary data sources included central and state government websites, India Brand Equity Foundation, National Real Estate Development Council, Asia Pacific Real Estate Association, Real Estate Developers Association, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association, the United Nations and leading business/legal publications and reports. Using the Right to Information Act of 2005, we sought information from the public domain wherever applicable. The method relies on reviewing the Act relevant to homebuyers and judicial pronouncements. Field research assessed the Act’s impact on homebuyers and society. Referring to Szolnoki and Hoffmann (2013), Bornstein et al. (2013), and Brodaty et al. (2014), we followed convenience sampling with due care to avoid sampling bias due to data collection from different regions and different categories of respondents. Moreover, COVID-19 restrictions led to convenience-based sample size selection. Without funding, convenience sampling was the logical and preferred Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 6 of 27 data collection option. The sample covered the prior RERDA, 2016 enactment period and had at least two years of real estate ownership before the interview date. Because the Act primarily benefits urban “middle-income settlers” 19 dreaming of a sweet home, homebuyers buying up to three residential units 20 were in the sample. We excluded investors wanting to resell or rent. We surveyed 1027 homebuyers from eight Indian metropolitan cities. Of them, 572 (56%) participated. Finally, the views recorded by 540 (94%) homebuyers were suitable and provided the impact outcome. City selection criteria included capital region, city type, and apartment culture. Indore’s selection was because it is the financial capital of Madhya Pradesh, and it was the cleanest city in India from 2016 to 2021. Kochi’s chosen preference was because, on 8 May 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of four multistory apartment buildings with 357 flats for violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms, affecting 1500 homebuyers and creating a sensational issue. 21 The respondents included 54 homebuyers who had booked flats from the Delhi region’s leading real estate developer (Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited 22 ). About 41% of the respondents belonged to the Odisha state capital of Bhubaneswar and Delhi, the national capital, where the researchers live. Other respondents belonged to Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, and Mumbai. Table 2 gives a glimpse of the distribution of respondents according to zone, specific location, and reasons for sample selection coverage across the country. .The information was collected using a pretested semistructured questionnaire about flat possession, apartment life, society management, and developers’ approach to homebuyers between January and May 2021. The questionnaire had acceptable internal consistency and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.652) at a 1% significance level. From March-June 2021, the researchers could also contact 87 unsuccessful buyers. We analyzed all 540 respondents’ views and quoted unsuccessful buyers’ responses to meet the research objectives. The talks focused on two main questions: (ii) whether the builder harassed homebuyers; if so, at what stage, types of harassment and recourse; and (ii) whether the Act benefited/impacted them. Home cost, payment structure, builder’s promised date of giving possession and delay period, time of filing a complaint, choice of the grievance redress mechanism, views on regulating agencies, including the government and builder, and builder harassment were all questions. We conducted face-to-face interviews with homebuyers/owners and attended apartment society (management) meetings, mobile calls, and Skype/WhatsApp/messenger chats for data collection. Friends and contacts helped arrange computer-assisted meetings and interactions at different locations. The authors tallied the opinions for analysis and interpretation. For RERDA 2016 development, in the sixth year of its implementation, we preferred to match homebuyers’ responses with builders’ views, the judiciary’s mind, and experts’ opinions. In this second phase field survey covering all regions between January and April 2022, we received responses through contacts and e-mails from various online sources. The responses were from 59 RERDA, 2016 Proactive government Effective judiciary intervention Disciplined builders H o m e b u y e r s H : The Act is ineffective in protecting homebuyers’ interests (There is no delay in delivery and no harassment. Homebuyers are not well aware of the Act’s provisions, and the grievance redress is weak). H : There is no significant difference among respondents’ views. Figure 2. Research model. Source: Authors’ design. Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 7 of 27 authority for more than ten years, and respondent 98 was an intervened petitioner. The owners of several flats (condominiums) registered their units with their local authorities without obtaining a license from the appropriate sources. Still, the builder managed to move freely with the landowner’s irrevocable power of attorney. A respondent (221) who was the founder and President of the apartment society narrated how the builder harassed the office bearers of the flat owners’ (homebuyers) association just before implementing RERA because of legal recourse taken by the owners’ association collectively. The issues were that they had no right to information; obtaining property documents was difficult. The legal right to compensation was absent if they did not receive the property as agreed. In any case, the right to claim a refund from the builder was unthinkable. Seven homebuyers (Respondents (27, 129, 142, 310, 325, 411, 507) expressed how they proceeded to RERA court for grievance settlement without fear and confidence and expressed satisfaction about the development and outcome. 4.4.2. Field investigation: builders’ and experts’ response Most of the developers with multiple responses (86%) viewed that the delivery delays were because of financial issues, approval delays including environmental clearance, market conditions, and the developers’ negligence. There were delays in obtaining raw materials (like cement and steel), workers who didn’t know what they were doing, and problems with civil contractors running their businesses. However, some builders wanted to keep their reputation and promises, so they put a penalty clause in their contracts. About 64% of developers attributed delays in delivery to market conditions. These included government policies and legislation, interest rates, tax incentives, deductions and rebates or subsidies, and investment potential. Inadequate or improper project financing, high unsold inventory and a growing proportion of stalled projects caused delayed delivery (49% of developers’ responses). There were compromising opinions on developers’ negligence causing the delay. Views (41%) were that some homebuyers’ associations or individuals complained of political reasons or extortion. According to builders’ understanding, the average score of awareness of the Act among urban homebuyers was 60%. Similarly, the Act’s effectiveness in grievance redress was 53%. On the harassment question, the majority of respondents avoided answering, and some replied that it was a misunderstanding or a miscommunication. However, one-way ANOVA analysis reveals that the p-value (0.0131) is significant at a 5% level (Table A4), implying that the results are random. Therefore, we reject the hypothesis that the Act is ineffective in protecting the homebuyers’ interests and accept the alternative notion that the Act has empowered the homebuyers. Regarding variations in respondents’ opinions across the regions/zones, Table A5, through the chisquare test, explains no significant differences in two factors, i.e. delay in delivery (χ 2 6.745) and view on harassment (χ 2 5.065) across the zones. Therefore, the hypothesis H₁ = fdt = fbh is accepted, implying that the respondents’ opinions follow a similar trend across the zones. However, the other factors, awareness of the Act (χ 2 16.785) and view on grievance redress (χ 2 22.96), are significant, resulting in the rejection of hypothesis H₂ = faa = fgr. The implication is that the Act has a variable impact on homebuyers across the country. The variation is possible because implementing the Act and creating awareness are state subjects, and states have different approaches. 4.4.3. Impediments Inadequate infrastructure and workforce hinder the timely resolution of many RERA complaints. Most states follow the makeshift work 40 system. Some states have trouble recruiting RERA members, while others lack a fully equipped office with administrative support and infrastructure. RERA’s staff and infrastructure are insufficient to handle consumer complaints. RERA is not booming yet, because even after six years, it is still not preventing corruption/malpractices. 41 The implementation of RERA orders is another challenge for authorities and homebuyers. Inbuilt constraints prevented authorities from executing several homebuyer-friendly orders. According to RERDA 2016, an execution order must be completed within a set timeframe. The promoter’s or real Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 14 of 27 estate agent’s penalties/compensation is recoverable as land revenue arrears. 42 The authority has no power to issue directives to any agency, so ensuring proper action is challenging. Homebuyers who hoped for RERA were trapped in dud projects. Most states have not adequately implemented it six years later, frustrating homebuyers. In RERA-enabled states, most of its orders fail to execute. 43 RERA authorities in all states have recently agreed to issue a recovery warrant, placing it with the district administration to recover arrears from penalties or unpaid fees. However, this problem persists. However, the analysis above gives a broader view of the Act’s impact on people and society. Figure 3, the Fishbone diagram, shows the analytical views of the impact assessment. 5. Discussion A lively debate regarding the value 44 of data creation is going on among academics and researchers. The presumption is essential for both effective policy and commercial prospects to guarantee that society as a whole benefits from data-driven economic developments (Coyle & Diepeveen, 2021). Following this, we need to learn more about the implications of value from different kinds of data generated and analyzed in this research and share its contribution for future references. Based on this premise, the discussion section covers three aspects: our findings’ linkage to past studies, practical insights and policy implications. 5.1. Relevance to past research Before the Act’s implementation, homebuyers lacked information and property documents. If they didn’t get the property as promised, they had no legal recourse and no refund from the builder. The regulatory controls were lax. We agree with Bledsoe’s (2019) contention that the Act’s implementation and intense judicial interventions give homebuyers who struggled before RERDA hope. Barker’s (2008) and Brinkmann’s (2009) observations that builders and real estate agencies create complex ethical issues are still visible. We agree with Haase et al. (2021) that housing development needs state support to improve the live-work mix. 45 Today, India has strict laws and rules to control the real estate business, protect consumers’ interests, and serve society as a whole. The Act’s provision of an “Escrow account” has reduced builders’ chances of misappropriation/ misuse of homebuyers’ advance payments/installments. The result is confident homebuyers. The Act’s provision allowing complainants to file a case without a lawyer empowers homebuyers. These components contribute to Bledsoe’s (2019) idea of humanizing housing and quality of life. Figure 3. Root-cause analysis: Fishbone diagram. Source: Authors’ design. Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 15 of 27 A novel and distinct research dimension emerged during meetings with homebuyers’ society management. Cash-strapped buyers enter into presale agreements to buy with small down payments as home prices rise. Presales are an excellent short-term investment due to their high leverage and low transaction costs. Builders use presale to raise funds for construction projects and reduce price fluctuations by negotiating a favorable transaction price early in the development process. These observations support Li and Chau’s (2019) findings on developer presales. 5.2. Practical insights The narratives on homebuyers’ responses reveal their emotional anguish and the mood of governing/regulating agencies and the market. Homebuyers (consumers) must educate themselves more, seize opportunities without fear, and ensure that the “Consumer is King”. However, the Indian regulatory mechanism influenced by politically-linked industrial groups impacts regulatory governance and cripples the empowerment process (Burman & Zaveri, 2016; Dubash & Rao, 2008). Referring to Levien (2021), we observe another hindering factor: informal land-grabbing by the land mafia 46 is rising in India. Land mafias involved in property and real estate show inadequacies in prevailing approaches to corruption and propose taking capitalism, coercion, and corruption seriously. Besides, the Indian political system weakens regulatory governance and threatens the purpose of establishing independent regulatory agencies to depoliticize decision-making. 47 In Kochi, Kerala, the 2006 construction of four high-rise flats breached environmental standards, exposing the nexus between builders and power corridors. Following a 2007 High Court stay order, the builders completed the project and sold it with the help of influential people, highlighting the industry’s impact on regulatory governance. Following the Supreme Court’s demolition directives, residents silently protested with political backing. Informality, planning violations, and corruption hamper Indian urban planning (Sundaresan, 2019). Examining RERDA and State Rules reveals that the real estate sector lobby continues to exert regulatory power. Against this, we observe Chikermane and Agrawal (2020) claiming that the federal and state governments and their regulators did well with RERDA, 2016, ensuring residents’ convenience in the organized real estate industry. These observations imply that the Act empowers homebuyers in varying degrees to counter builders’ exploitation. Judicial actions improve homebuyer confidence. However, relying on the arguments of Y.-S. Lee (2017), we believe that political will is essential for the Act’s timely and successful implementation, which is missing in some states. Regarding violating or ignoring ethics, we observe that real estate associations’ codes of ethics clearly state an underlying commitment to morality. Most standards of practice provide detailed guidelines and rationale for proper professional conduct. However, its members, particularly promoters/builders, have frequently violated these provisions. Despite the common perception of unethical behavior in real estate, 48 the principle of “rational choice theory”, i.e., individuals making decisions based on self-interest, persists. We believe Barker’s (2008) argument that the case still poses challenging ethical questions is valid even today. 5.3. Policy implications A line on RERDA’s contribution to economic growth appears significant. India regards the Act as a boost to the sector’s growth with fiscal incentives. The India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) predicts a $9.30 billion industry by 2040, up from $1.72 billion in 2019. 49 Market capitalization will reach $1 trillion by 2030, up from $120 billion in 2017, contributing 13% to GDP. 50 Furthermore, the government claims that the Act helped India to improve its ease of doing business (EoDB) ranking to 63/190 in 2019 from 77 in 2018 and 100 in 2017, suggesting its continuous efforts to become a hub destination for more FDI. 51 The impact of this factor on the economy is debatable and needs investigation. The Act prepares the industry for healthy growth through improved regulation and transparency. We agree with Gilbert and Gurran’s (2021) assessment of the reform’s influence on housing Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 16 of 27 approvals, especially for higher-density infill buildings that local governments wouldn’t have allowed. The 2016 RERDA aims to achieve this. We agree with Bardhan and Kroll (2007) claim that housing and real estate rules affect competition and economic and social control. Finally, analysis and discussion show that the 2016 real estate law affects economic development law and policy (Crepelle, 2021). We support Munasib et al. (2014) and Y.-S. Lee (2017) that regulatory framework reforms have mixed effects. Some worry that authorized laws and rules alone will not generate the desired results. Some laws and norms are not enforced in many countries, while others are selectively enforced or impossible to implement. 52 India’s the same. However, the industry appears confident of healthy development with increased regulation and openness. 6. Conclusion, limitations and future research 6.1. Conclusion The RERDA, 2016, entered into effect on 1 May 2017, to promote openness and accountability in real estate and housing. The Act is one of the government’s most critical initiatives to regulate the unregulated and uncontrolled real estate sector for homebuyers and other stakeholders. Examining the Act and its postimplementation phase reveals it initially faced various hurdles, including constitutional legality, and filed several cases for adjudication. Due to competing federal (interstate) relations, the Act’s smooth implementation by some state governments is a hindrance. In one state, it breaches the central Act while twisting state-framed Regulatory Authority Rules in eight builder-friendly states. Recovering penalties and compensation from builders is another obstacle to the implementation of RERA by the authorities. With the early impediments cleared by the courts, it is now bearing fruit, and homebuyers are getting relief from builder exploitation and harassment. Even after six years of implementation, growth and improvement in implementing the Act are uneven. We answer the research question about the Act’s impact on homebuyers and society favorably, concluding that overall, the Act gives homebuyers legal protections. Still, builders are influential, making homebuyers subservient to harassment and legal battles. The Indian government’s approach to redressing the woes of homebuyers needs substantial improvement in a challenging political environment. Our findings on the impact of the real estate reforms could assist policymakers, and development planners, in modifying existing rules in the globalized competitive environment. However, finally, the general observation we derive is that the success of legislation in a country’s development relies on political will, its design, particularly its alignment with development goals, its flexibility and effectiveness, and its adaptation to socioeconomic situations. Regarding ethical issues, the conclusion emerges that the Indian real estate market is still subservient to unethical business practices through builders’ violations of law and regulations. This includes market and customer exploitation. Because this article is empirical, it adds to the corpus of knowledge about the subject with a future direction. 6.2. Limitations and scope for future research The study did not consider failed homebuyers as profoundly as other market participants. A socioeconomic analysis of newly enacted legislation may show a price effect on housing supply and demand. Additionally, we did not study the reasoning of the government or policymakers for linking the real estate Act to FDI inflows or EoDB ranking. We agree with Paul and Benito (2018) that cross-country comparisons of FDI in developing economies are challenging, but it provides scope for further research. The other limitation is methodological: the nonavailability of a sampling frame of the homebuyers’ population, although random sampling is possible with data availability. Future studies will be able to validate this proposition through these dimensions. These dimensions validate the proposition by expanding future research. In the future, researchers may look at informal and slum housing as urban phenomena to compare and evaluate urban housing policies. Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 17 of 27 An exciting new direction for future research in real estate and related fields is to compare the costs and benefits of rules systematically. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to all the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions that helped prepare this paper for publication in its current form. Author details Neelam Chawla 1 ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3063-0447 Basanta Kumar 2 E-mail: [email protected] ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3339-7481 1 School of Law and Legal Studies, Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi-110034, India. 2 Academic, Research and Legal Advisor, Xavier University and Utkal University, Bhubaneswar 751010, India. Disclosure statement The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Data availability statement Sources of secondary data have been duly acknowledged. Primary data sharing is restricted due to confidential nature of data collection. Citation information Cite this article as: Does Indian real estate regulation protect urban homebuyers? policy implications, Neelam Chawla & Basanta Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164. Notes 1. https://population.un.org/wup/publications/files/ wup2014-report.pdf 2. See http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Making_ Affordable_Housing_A_Reality_In_Cities_report.pdf accessed on, vol. 26, no. 01, p. 2020. 2019. 3. First National Housing Policies in India was formulated in 1988 and the recent one is National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy 2007. 4. http://ficci.in/sector/59/project_docs/real-eastateprofile.pdf. Even the Indian real estate markets were under-perform the stock market over 1998– 2005 (Newell & Kamineni, 2007) . 5. Also see https://www.thehindu.com/real-estate /cracking-down-on-fraudulent-builders/arti cle34280021.ece 6. Real estate development was rife with delays and defaults. Homebuyers were usually left in the lurch when the developer repeatedly delays completing apartments. As a result, the government passed the RERDA, 2016 (See the Supreme Court of India judgment in Civil Appeal No. 6239 of 2019 between Wg. Cdr. Arifur Rahman Khan & Aleya Sultana & Ors v DLF Southern Homes Pvt. Ltd. available at https:// main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2019/27240/27240_ 2019_33_1501_23551_judgment_24-Aug-2020. pdf). Also see how the builder exploits the homebuyers at https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/becareful-while-buying-an-under-constructionproperty-5827 7. https://www.businesstoday.in/moneytoday/realestate/real-estate-property-market-new-deals-toattract-home-buyers/story/19535.html. 8. Artificial scarcity (supply shortage) results in housing unaffordability (See https://www.strongtowns. org/journal/2016/4/20/affordable-housing). A significant demand-supply gap which is the highest in low and middle-income segments exists in the residential housing segment of the Indian real estate market. In certain cities, demand outweighs supply three to four-fold (see https://www. ibef.org/download/Affordable-Housing-in-India -24072012.pdf.). 9. http://www.naredco.in/notification/pdfs/whitepa per.pdf. 10. Homebuyer in the present research refers to a person/buyer defined as “allottee” in the RERDA, 2016 (s.1(d) to whom a plot/ apartment/ building is allotted/sold (freehold/leasehold)/transferred by the promoter and the person who later acquires the same allotment by sale/transmission/otherwise. It excludes the person to whom such a plot, apartment or building, as the case may be, is given on rent. 11. http://docs.manupatra.in/newsline/articles/Upload/ 833D918D-8BE9-4AB7-9F70-3A603AEE2BD6.pdf. 12. The National Building Code of India (NBC), initially introduced in 1970 and revised from time to time, with the most recent revision in 2016, is a national document that provides principles for controlling building construction operations throughout the country. See the Code at https://www.bis.gov.in/ index.php/standards/technical-department /national-building-code/#:~:text=The%20National %20Building%20Code%20of,Code%20for%20adop tion%20by%20all. 13. NAR-INDIA, founded in 2008, is a non-profit organization formed by the leading representative body and advocacy organization for persons involved in Real Estate Transaction Advisory to serve as the collective voice of Indian realtors. Its objective is to establish the highest standards and certification in the real estate market while facilitating professional growth for its members. See the Code at https://www.narindia. org/code-of-ethics.php. 14. No FDI was allowed in the Indian real sector before 2005, except for non-resident Indians and overseas corporate bodies. The government permitted 100% FDI in the housing infrastructure development projects subject to specific terms and conditions in 2005. FDI equity inflows in the industry during 2009–2013 were low, so the government relaxed the terms and conditions to attract more FDI. In 2018, 100% FDI under the automatic route was allowed. For details, see https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID= 1549548 15. See the legislation at https://legislative.gov.in/sites/ default/files/A2016-16_0.pdf 16. Shelter for protecting people, house is a denotative concept, meaning a small dwelling explaining the building’s physical structure 17. See https://www.forbes.com/sites/dimawilliams/ 2020/04/02/real-estate-as-an-essential-business /#6aecf6d4b4d5 18. See for reports, minutes and notification about various housing and real estate issues at https:// mohua.gov.in/cms/notifications.php 19. Divorce opinions exist about defining “middleincome settlers”. We consider people earning typically in the range of US $10 to $100 per day as defined by World Bank/OECD/ India’s National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 18 of 27 Hence, the scope of this research excludes slum housing/informal housing. 20. Assumption-small nuclear family norms, one unit for self-occupation, the other two for a gift to son (s) and/daughter (s); may be for rent temporarily. 21. Order was passed on 8 May 2019 to demolish four apartmentsJains Coral Cove, Golden Kayaloram, H2O Holy Faith and Alfa Serene. The state government was to pay compensation to each owner Rs. 25 00,000 before demolition. Forty residents of Golden Kayaloram petitioned the Supreme Court for a rehearing, but the Court denied it. The Court quashed the industry body Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) plea to reverse the demolition order on 25 October 2019. The final demolition took place on 12 January 2020. 22. The Supreme Court of India penalized the builder for violating ethical business practice through a judgment in July 2019. 23. Also known as the Ishikawa diagram or cause and effect diagram. 24. The newly enacted Consumer Protection Act, 2019, effective from 9 August 2019, has strengthened homebuyers’ grievance settlement mechanism. https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2019/ 210422.pdf 25. Combined judgment of Bombay High Court in Writ Petition No. 2737/ 2017 together with other 10 cases at https://indiankanoon.org/doc/82600930/. 26. https://indiacorplaw.in/2017/12/bombay-highcourt-upholds-constitutional-validity-rera.html 27. https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2019/9796/ 9796_2019_34_1502_24555_judgment_02-Nov -2020.pdf 28. Supreme Court’s judgment details in Bikram Chatterji & Ors v. Union of India, Writ Petition(C) No. 940/2017 29. See judgment dated 9 August 2019 in Writ Petition(s) (Civil) No. 43/2019. Also refer IBC (Second Amendment) Act, 2018 and explanation to Section 5 (8; f), Section 21(6A)(b) and Section 25A of the IBC. 30. See combined judgment in Civil Appeal No. 2221/ 2021 and 2367–2369/2021 [New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) v. Anand Sonbhadra, Manish Gupta and others. . .etc] 31. https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2019/9796/ 9796_2019_34_1502_24555_judgment_02-Nov -2020.pdf 32. https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2021/5013/ 5013_2021_14_1502_31099_judgment_11-Nov -2021.pdf 33. In one public interest litigation known as “PIL”, the Indian Supreme Court, on 17 January 2021, advised the Central Government to bring a model “builder-buyer” and “agent-buyer” agreement to safeguard middle-class homebuyers, which shall apply to the whole country. The reason for this is the attempt to include various conditions in the contract such that the average person may be unaware of their implications. See details in https://www.businessstandard.com/article/current-affairs/it-s-impor tant-to-have-model-builder-buyer-agreementsupreme-court-121100500039_1.html. 34. http://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/RERA_ Status_Tracker%20(11-09-2021).pdf 35. WBHIRA)-2017 was notified on 1 June 2017, almost one year after the promulgation of the central Act-RERDA, 2016. 36. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/ bengal-opts-out-of-rera-passes-own-diluted-law /article24073510.ece# 37. Mishra (2019). https://www.proptiger.com/guide/ post/bengal-notifies-own-real-estate-acthomebuyers-stand-to-lose. 38. Indian Supreme Court in Writ Petition No. 116/ 2019 on 4 May 2021 has struck down the Act ordering WBHIRA-2017 is unconstitutional and in conflict with RERDA, 2016. The state is bound to legislate new Rules soon. For more case details, see https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2019/2356/ 2356_2019_35_1501_27914_judgment_04-May -2021.pdf 39. India figures at 85 out of 180 countries in the corruption perception index of 2021 (see https://www. transparency.org/en/cpi/2021/index/ind). According to Transparency International India’s 2019 report, 56% of people paid a bribe and 61% were unaware of a state hotline/helplines to report corruption. (see https://transparencyindia.org/wp-content /uploads/2019/11/India-Corruption-Survey-2019. pdf). 40. Retired people on contract or on deputation from other departments 41. The statement is based on several judiciary reviews of real estate litigation and feedback from field study. 42. See section 40, RERDA, 2016. 43. See Bombay High Court judgment in Arun Parshuram Veer vs State of Maharashtra and Others in WP No. 2159 of 2021. The Maharashtra RERA issued a recovery warrant against the builder and forwarded it to the District Collector. There was no execution of the order, and the Maharashtra RERA was silent. Finally, the homebuyer landed in the Bombay High Court for execution. 44. By “value,” we mean the economic concept of “social welfare,” which is the overall (economic) well-being of all of society, including individual incomes and needs, and non-monetary benefits like convenience, housing, or health. Specifically, “value” refers to the viewpoint of society. 45. The term “live-work mix” refers to real estate that combines residential space with business or manufacturing space. 46. Land mafias are those engaged in land and property-related corruption. 47. https://theprint.in/opinion/state-regulation-in-India -the-art-of-rolling-over-rather-than-rolling-back /216,647/. Policymakers decide on regulations mainly in four ways: expert, consensus, benchmarked or empirical. A trusted expert makes the expert decision, and political representatives take consensual decisions on political priorities. Benchmarked decisions are based on an external model, while empirical findings depend on factfinding and analysis to specify action parameters (OECD, 1997, pp.14–15). India relies on this guidelines. 48. See, Wolverton and Wolverton (1999). 49. https://www.ibef.org/industry/real-estate-india.aspx 50. https://www.financialexpress.com/money/indianresidential-real-estate-the-new-hotspot-for-nriinvestments-amid-covid-19/2085562/ 51. https://www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/ doingBusiness/country/i/india/IND.pdf 52. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/ handle/10986/25880/9781464809507_Ch03.pdf. Accessed 29 September 2021. Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 19 of 27 References Acolin, A., Hoek-Smit, M., & Green, R. K. (2021). Measuring the housing sector’s contribution to GDP in emerging market countries. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhma04-2021-0042 Arku, G. (2006). The housing and economic development debate revisited: Economic significance of housing in developing countries. 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Section 8: If promoter cannot complete work, allottees' association might carry out remaining development works. Sections 9: Real estate agents cannot facilitate sale or purchase of any plot or building unless they register themselves. Registration cancellation Rule applies if real estate agents violate the Act's provisions or obtain registration by misrepresentation and fraud. Section 10: Real estate agent must maintain books of accounts facilitating supply of all information and documents to the buyer when booking any plot or apartment and not involved in any unfair trade practices. Section 11(1): The developer must enter all details of the proposed project on the authority's website. Section 11 (4): Promoter is responsible for securing completion certificate, lease certificate, and executing registered deed. Section 12: When any person advances money based on notice of advertisement's false statement, the promoter has to compensate for loss caused. Section 18: Developers’ failure to give possession of apartment or plot on time entitles homebuyer to get back amount provided at prescribed rate in case of withdrawing or entitled to interest for every month till handover of possession in case he does not want to retire. Section 20: Concerned state government would establish RERA within one year from Act's commencement Section 38: RERA authority can, suo motu, refer to Competition Commission of India, if issue relating to competition comes up before it having an appreciable effect on real estate sector. Section 43: Respective state government has to establish real estate Appellate Tribunal within one year from the Act's commencement Section 43 (5): Aggrieved can appeal before Appellate Tribunal if any person is unsatisfied with decision or order by authority or adjudicatory officer. If promoter files an appeal before, he has to deposit 30% of penalty or a higher percentage before hearing appeal petition Section 58: If anyone is unsatisfied with Appellate Tribunal’s decision or order, he can appeal to High Court on grounds given in section100 of civil procedure code1908 Section 71: To determine compensation, RERA can appoint one or more judicial persons as adjudicating authority, who is or has been District Judge for holding inquiry REDRA, 2016 25 March 2016. [Greater openness, accountability, citizen focus, and financial discipline] 1May 2016 Implementation with 59 out of 92 provisions 1May 2017 Implementation of rest 33 provisions 4 September 2017 Constitutional validity of RERDA, 2016 upheld by Indian Supreme Court Figure A1. Timeline of RERDA, 2016 implementation and homebuyers related provisions. Source: Authors’ compilation. Chawla & Kumar, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2117164 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2117164 Page 23 of 27