Discriminating against someone for their caste, sexual orientation, gender, or religion will now be disallowed as the Centre is set to introduce a non-discriminatory clause under the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA), reported the Indian Express.
The act will provide recourse to those denied housing at the builder’s prerogative.
The RERA was passed in 2016 to regulate the transactions between property buyers and sellers and listed out punitive actions in case of violations. The new rules will be notified by the Ministry of Urban Housing and Poverty Alleviation by 31 October 2016.
The buyers will be provided with recourse after the anti-discrimination clause is introduced, following which they can approach any state-level authority for appropriate remedy.
Builders failing to adhere to the tribunal’s order will face up to three years of imprisonment, under RERA.
As the Constitution provides for non-discrimination, the clause is being inserted to uphold that provision, according to a ministry official. However, it will desist from specifying the exact nature of discrimination as they don’t want to risk excluding any kind of discrimination by way of omission.
The RERA will only extend to builders and buyers and not to landlords and tenants. So those looking for rented accommodation can still be denied housing based on prejudice.
Ministry officials have said, however, they have deliberated on including a similar anti-discriminatory clause in the draft model Rental Housing policy, which will be notified soon, although it won’t have the same enforceability as RERA.
This is the first time India is bringing about anti-discriminatory rules in its housing regulations, especially with the growing instances of housing being denied to singles, Muslims, homosexuals and non-vegetarians in various cities.
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