The Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE), a group that campaigned for the enactment of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, said the regulation has failed to meet the expectations of scores of homebuyers whose investments were stuck in ongoing housing projects.
Enacted five years ago, RERA covered both new projects and all those that were under construction, also known as “ongoing” projects. FPCE said less 10% of the ongoing projects have been completed since the law was enacted. “Not even 10% of the ongoing projects which were covered under the law have been completed even after five years of the law being implemented,” FPCE president Abhay Upadhyay said.
The FPCE recently won a case against the West Bengal government which had notified its real estate law, the Housing Industry Regulatory Authority, in contravention of the Central Act. The Supreme Court had termed the West Bengal law unconstitutional.
“The government should also bring out a whitepaper on how many projects launched after the RERA came into existence have been completed within the given timeline. What is the average time of delay in the completion of such projects? Getting extension for completion of the project is not the birthright of builders,” Upadhyay said.
Updadhya also raised questions about the authorities experimenting with new ideas, which are out of the legal framework of the law, instead of focus on bringing relief to homebuyers. He said, “It’s good progress so far as registration of 65,000 projects and disposal of 64,000 cases are concerned. But now there is a need to do more to bring relief to homebuyers, which is enshrined in the law,” Upadhyay said.
He alleged that the government authorities get “out of box ideas” when it comes to providing relief or comfort to the builders. The organisation said they had opposed the Union housing and urban affairs ministry’s move last year to extend the deadline for ongoing projects due to the coronavirus disease pandemic.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
