State government to measure flats to keep builders from cheating you

Government is planning to issue circular making measurement certificates from Legal Metrology department mandatory for registering new homes; this will reduce discrepancies between promised and actual size of flats

In a bid to ensure that buyers are not shortchanged on the size of their flats, the state government is planning to make a measurement certificate by the Legal Metrology department mandatory for registration of homes.

Representation pic

Officials say this will reduce cases of fraud, wherein builders promise a certain area and deliver less. They said the measurement will be done on the carpet area, to do away with the ambiguity caused by terms like the built-up and super built-up area.

Another major change that will come in is that the area of homes will be measured in sq m instead of sq ft. According to sources, the Legal Metrology department (weights and measures) will be issuing a circular soon, making it mandatory for the builder or flat owner to hand over a measurement certificate issued by the department before the new home is registered.

The hitch
The department, headed by Special Inspector General of Police Sanjay Pandey, has a small office and very few staff members. None of the officials gave mid-day a clear idea of how such few people would be able to measure every home and issue certificates, or of any planned alternative strategies.

B Zaver, the assistant controller of the Legal Metrology department, neither denied nor confirmed the planned circular. “At this moment, I cannot disclose anything regarding it. Only our seniors will be able to give us details.” The post of his immediate senior officer the deputy controller is vacant and when we pressed Zaver for an answer, he asked us to excuse him.

A senior bureaucrat claimed the government will not be measuring every house in the city or state. “Every building has to get its plan approved from the local municipal corporation, which has details of everything from the size of the rooms and the flat to the number of homes in a building.

We can issue certificates based on this plan, so that discrepancies can come to the fore during the registration phase itself. If implemented, this decision will curb malpractices, especially on the builders’ part.” Repeated attempts to meet and call Sanjay Pandey went in vain.

Builder speak
A builder, who said he had heard of this proposal, said, “We don’t mind the check, as this will bring in more transparency. However, we don’t know how the government will be able to measure all homes.”

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