CREDAI asks builders not to pay bribe to officials

Track2Realty-Agencies: Ironic it may sound, but the developers are getting hurt by allegations of corruption in the realty sector. Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) has asked its about 10,000 members not to pay bribe to officials for getting project clearance.

“We have had enough of these charges that builders breed corruption,” CREDAI President Lalit Kumar Jain said in a statement. He was addressing the CREDAI’s national convention at Barcelona that concluded on Thursday, Oct 4.

“Launching an all out war on corruption, developers’ apex body CREDAI has called upon its 10,000-strong members to stop paying bribes to officials for getting clearances,” the statement added.

Jain said that a survey was conducted among the developer community on saying flatly ‘No’ to corruption. Many members positively reacted and some said: “Together, we shall”.

“We take 18 to 36 months from change of land use to commencement of work and these delays contribute up to 40 per cent of the sale price. I have heard stories of developers’ exploitation and how the corruption has reached its pinnacle,” he observed.

Jain urged developers to gear up and resist all kinds of exploitation and demands for bribes, expose bribe seekers and even move courts with writ petitions and complaints.

From the government, he demanded administrative reforms to check the menace of corruption.

CREDAI President noted that mission transparency launched by the association has been accepted well and a majority of developers across the country have accepted the CREDAI’s code of conduct for themselves.

That apart, various state and city units of the industry body are setting up consumer grievance cells to pro-actively settle disputes out of court.

“Similarly, one day all developers will say no to corruption and the day is not far off,” Jain said, adding that the onus to fight corruption is particularly much more on the young developers than the older generations.

He informed that governments in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh have started moving to set up single window system for building clearances.

Many state governments are discussing the comprehensive check-list presented by CREDAI for giving project clearance through single-window.

Quoting a McKinsey report, Jain said the total shortage of dwelling units in urban areas will be 38 million units by 2030 in comparison to 24.71 million in 2007.

“The economy will have to build between 700 million and 900 million square meters of residential and commercial space a year in order to meet urban demand,” he said.