BENGALURU: When the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA) was passed three years ago, homebuyers, harried by delayed projects, had pinned their hopes on it. Today, many say, they are disappointed with the way the regulatory authority has been functioning. Tardy implementation is their many grouse.
To drive home their point, on Saturday, the Forum for Peoples Collective Efforts (FPCE), Karnataka chapter, and various resident welfare associations and organizations across the state staged a protest demanding proper enforcement of rules and guidelines by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA).
Around 300 homebuyers who have been allegedly cheated by the developers across the state participated in the protest.
M S Shankar, secretary, FPCE, alleged that Karnataka-RERA (K-RERA) was functioning without any regulations or standard operations procedures and lacked transparency and accountability which was the main objective of the RERA act.
Around 2,500 complaints are still unresolved in the state, he pointed out. Of these, 800 judgments were passed, and among those 700 were still on paper as the complainant hasn’t got either money or flat, he said.
Shankar alleged that K-RERA had not taken any strong action so far and its judgments were not honoured by the erring builders and developers.
A serious lack of enforcement, implementation and will by the authority was evident, he said. Homebuyers allegedly betrayed by well-known developers and those who have invested their entire life savings and are now struggling to lead a life have participated in the protest, he said.
The protesters said so far, there has not been a single RERA awareness event conducted by K-RERA as per RERA section 33(3), which states: “The Authority shall take suitable measures for the promotion of advocacy, creating awareness and imparting training about laws relating to Real estate sector and policies.”
Shankar said, “The K-RERA authorities should issue direction to the Stamps and Registration department to ensure compliance of RERA section 13 and 17 by upgrading their software to ensure mandatory mentioning of RERA Registration number, Occupancy Certificate details, Deed of Declaration details in the sale deed.”
The promoters, while applying for RERA registration, should mention the time period within which they will complete the project or phase, Shankar said.
A civic activist said, “We have been repeatedly requesting the state government to strengthen the act which was passed in 2016 and protect the interest of homebuyers. But nothing has been done so far. There are about 2,372 cases pending in K-RERA and poor enforcement of the regulations is hitting the consumers. Today our protest is all about consumer rights and builders’ accountability.”