Bhubaneswar: The housing and urban development department is taking steps to streamline the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) to bring transparency in the real-estate sector.

The department has appointed the chairperson and two members in the Real Estate Regulatory Authority and designated Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal as the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal under the rules.

"We have issued the notifications for the appointments," said a department official.

Forming the tribunal and the authority are part of the Odisha Real Estate Regulation and Development Rules. While the authority will look after the grievances of home buyers, the tribunal will assist it in solving real estate disputes. Besides, the department has also started the process to hire retired government employees as experts in the two bodies.

"We have invited applications from retired government employees to engage them as office bearers in the authority. Accordingly, we will appoint four officers on special duty and a bench clerk by mid-March," said the official.

The department has also identified a suitable site on Vivekananda Marg in Old Town to set up a separate office for Rera.

"We had earlier decided to set up the office inside the secretariat, but it is difficult to allow everyone inside. So, we have chosen a vacant space at Old Town for the purpose," said another housing and urban development department official.

"We have progressed significantly in streamlining Rera. There are good provisions in the rules that would help property buyers in a major way. This will further put a check on the monopoly of real-estate developers," said Bhubaneswar Development Authority vice-chairman Krishan Kumar.

Amid this physical progress, the state government is, however, still lagging behind in developing a dedicated website as mandated under the rules. The website is supposed to be a gateway for homebuyers as well as real-estate developers.

"A number of people do not know about this rule. A website is needed to sensitise them," said Sangram Nayak, a real-estate developer.