Although
the Parliament does not have powers to legislate on the urban issues, the Ministry
of Urban Development has taken initiative for legal and regulatory reforms in
the housing and urban development sector . Such initiatives are of two types
- Advising State
Governments with Modal Legislations
- Advising other
Ministries of Government of India for legal reform in areas which have bearings
on the urban sector.
Model
Legislations
The
following model legislation have been prepared and circulated to all the State
Government to help them formulate their respective legislation to bring about
uniformity in various state laws and also to simplify the regulations
- Model Rent Control
Legislation
- Model Apartment
Ownership Legislation
- Model Property
Regulation Legislation
- Model Urban
and Regional Planning and Development Legislation
- Model Legislation
regarding Housing Cooperatives.
- Model Chapter
on Property tax for inclusion in the State Municipal Laws
Some State have
already enacted laws / formulated bills on the basis of these model legislation.
See Model Municipal Laws
Legal
Reforms in Related Areas
Ministry
has proposed a series of reforms in related areas to create an enabling legal
environment for speedier implementation of urban development schemes and for
attracting larger participation of private sector. Some of these proposals are:
- Amendment of
Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to speed up the process of acquisition and to delink
the process of taking over possession of land from the process of determining
compensation
- Amendment of
the Transfer of Property act, 1882 to bring the concept of categorisation
of mortgages in line with recent practices of housing and financial institutions,
in particular English Mortgage and equitable Mortgage, lay down uniform Mortgage
documents, introduce speedy and predictable system of foreclosure of mortgages
and to give legal shape to rights of owners in multi storeyed apartments.
- Amendment of
the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and the Indian Registration Act, 1908 to delink
the process of registration from the payment of stamp duty, to liberate the
registration process from the requirement of various no objection certificates
and to rationalise stamp duties on various instruments.