FIABCI Appeals to Central Government for One Country, One License for Real Estate Brokers

BENGALURU/NEW DELHI:
The Indian chapter of the international real estate body for Realtors, the FIABCI has urged the central government in a letter, requesting for a single license for brokers to operate throughout the country irrespective of the state they belong to. This will enable Realtors and all brokers to carry out their business across all states in the country seamlessly.

“Currently Realtors have to apply for licenses to the respective state governments for first sales and cannot operate beyond the jurisdiction of the license being granted. Since the real estate industry and small brokers in particular have got affected badly by the pandemic, we at FIABCI have urged the government to allow brokers to operate throughout the country with just one common license,” informs Farook Mahmood Chairman Emeritus & Founder President FIABCI – India, who is now also a member of Global Strategic Planning.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mahmood has also requested for an industry status for developers. “Several real estate bodies including FIABCI have been repeatedly requesting the government for many years now. An industry status will give us a strong platform to voice our concerns. The industry contributes millions of crores of rupees to the exchequer and we don’t see why we should not be granted industry status,” laments Mahmood

FIABCI’s appeal to the central government has been made in the light of the fact that several brokers have been reeling under pressure due to all time low business in the last one year and more owing to series of lockdowns with near zero second sales in many cities. This has prompted many small brokers to shut shop as well.

Another issue plaguing the real estate sector in India is the huge burden of GST. “The GST burden of 18% has added to the already grim situation. Customers are not willing to pay GST and hence we Realtors have to absorb the cost. The government should look at GST waiver or at least a reduction on both first and second sales as well as brokerage. This will give immense fillip to the lagging real estate industry”, he urged.