Little relief from RERA, complain home buyers

Almost five years since the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) came into force, it has received over 6,000 complaints against builders over various shortcomings.

However, home-buyers who have approached the quasi-judicial body are an unhappy lot as most of the cases are yet to be disposed of, resulting in prolonged legal battles and financial hurt.

Activists allege severe shortcomings on the part of the agency. Though orders for compensation are issued in several cases, home-buyers are yet to receive relief. In other instances, many are yet to receive final judgments 2-3 years after they filed a petition with RERA against errant builders, despite multiple hearings.

Among those still awaiting justice from RERA is retired Col Narasimha Muddakatte. Though he along with 31 others had received a favorable verdict following a complaint filed with RERA in May 2019, they were yet to receive compensation from the builder.

After the final order, the Revenue Recovery Certificate (RRC) is issued on behalf of the complainants. The Deputy Commissioner of a district should recover the cost from the developer and deposit with RERA, who issue compensation cheques to victims.

“This whole cycle is not working at all. DC court has been sleeping. Jurisdictional tahsildars, who also have a role, don’t move an inch,” he alleged.

Subrata Sen had purchased an apartment in 2017. Realising that the builder was violating norms while constructing in the apartment complex due to which Occupancy Certificate (OC) will not be issued to him, he approached RERA on June 1, 2018.

More than 20 hearings later - the builder allegedly did not appear for a single hearing - he will be heard again on February 1, 2022. “The apartment was completed without any plans, due to which commencement certificate was not issued by the civic agency and the developer has refused to provide me OC. If required documents are not submitted, the bank (from which he got a home loan) will demand full payment of the loan in one go,” he said.

M S Shankar, national general secretary, Forum for People’s Collective Efforts said that though around 3,600 cases were disposed of, there was no execution of the RERA order. “Payment of interest, refund ordered etc is not happening,” he said, accusing RERA of taking more time to dispose of a case than what provisions allow.

Many cases are disposed of through compromise, not by enforcing existing legislation or guidelines issued by the government. “RERA was expected to dispose cases in a speedy manner and ensure justice for home-buyers,” he added.

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