Not sure if your 1000 sq ft apartment is really 1000 sq ft?

Legal Metrology Department, which certifies weighing scales & measuring jars, will now accept complaints on builders cheating on floor space.If you ever felt that your apartment is not the size the builder had promised but did not know what to do about it, there is help at hand.The Legal Metrology Department, which among its other responsibilities certifies the weighing scales used in provision stores, will now make taking on builders as easy as complaining against a kiranawala for under-weighing your sugar.Speaking exclusively to Mumbai Mirror on Monday, Inspector General of Police and Controller of Legal Metrology Sanjay Pandey said his department will invoke the Legal Metrology Act and other relevant laws against builders who cheat buyers on space.This is the first time Legal Metrology is extending its oversight to the real estate industry, where builders reneging on promises is rampant. According to a senior official at the department, the rule will be imposed as and when home owners raise concerns against developers. Complaints about builders charging for a certain area and eventually providing less than promised is common grouse among buyers.Till now, buyers’ only option was to drag the builder to a court, which is time consuming. But now the Legal Metrology Department will be able to act on a complaint immediately. “Our department is committed to providing standard measures to consumers and ensuring that they do not get cheated. Selling space also comes under the purview of the Legal Metrology Law and we will ensure that consumers get their due,” Pandey said.The department has called a meeting of top builders at its Nariman Point office today. Apart from updating developers on the process of acting on complaints, the other important point on the agenda will be the migration of the real estate industry to ‘metre’ as a unit of measuring floor space from ‘foot’.All builders will also be asked to submit their measuring tapes for inspection and use only those certified by the department.“The Legal Metrology Act has clear provisions to punish those who sell below the quantity of measure promised. In case of short selling of space, we will verify such complaints and will take strong action,” Pandey said. He said upon receipt of a complaint, the department will measure space independently to establish whether a buyer has indeed been cheated.Pandey said some stray complaints compelled him to extend his reach to the real estate industry. He said the real estate sector, though dealing in selling of space, was not following basics of the Legal Metrology Act. “Section 24 of the Legal Metrology Act demands verification of any weights or measures by the Controller before it is put to use. Unfortunately, the real estate sector never followed this rule. Violation of this rule invites a penalty of Rs 25,000, and a second violation a jail term,” a senior LM officer said.About the use of foot as a standard measuring unit, Pandey said: “India is signatory to the International Organisation of Legal Metrology norms which state that measures of length should be centimetre, metre and hectare and none else,” Pandey added.The Legal Metrology department recently issued notices to four developers who had floated advertisement to sell their products on square foot basis and more notices are likely to be issued in the coming days. The department has also written to civic officials, department of registration and stamps, architects, and the land records department asking them to use only ‘metre’ as a unit of measure.Welcoming the Legal Metrology department’s decision to extend its reach to the real estate industry, Honorary Secretary, CREDAI Vijay Mirchandani said: “Usually builders clearly specify the carpet area provided. But if someone is found cheating, the law should take its own course. But at the same time, it should be ensured that there is no duplicity of oversight. The government should specify the rules and regulations that a builder must follow.” On the verification of measuring tapes, Mirchandani said this just adds another NoC that a builder must apply for. “We have been urging the government to minimise procedures to reduce project delays. One more NoC means further delays,” he said.As far as using ‘metre’ as a unit of measure, Mirchandani said several architects have already shifted to the metric system. “Builders too now provide statistics in both ‘metre’ as well as ‘foot’.But there are several such measures used in India - ‘yard’ is used for plots and acres for bigger land parcels. Also, customers understand ‘foot’ better.”