How Home Buyers can file complaints against Real estate Builders online? | RERA Act

Home ownership in India has always been a big dream. To realize this long-cherished dream, a home buyer may either acquire the property through a home loan (or) invest huge sums of money in the property, in most of the cases this can be his/her life-long savings.

Thanks to no proper regulations in the real estate sector and no proper grievance redressal mechanism in place, the dream of the average middle class family to own a home, has of late become a nightmare. Home Buyers in India have always been at the receiving end of innumerable malpractices at the hands of many real estate builders or promoters.

The biggest investment of ones lifetime is more often than not either compromised with or ends up in the legal battle. The number of cases in the consumer courts by aggrieved home buyers has skyrocketed of late.

“A Home buyer in India is often left alone at the mercy of the builders.”

Delayed possession, default on design and construction parameters, mismatch of space in the guise of floor area & carpet area, the list of woes for home buyers seems to be endless.

With the introduction of RERA act, looks like things are slowly changing for the good.

Though it is too early to call RERA Act a success, but the recent verdicts given by the RERA authorities, may make home-buyers something to cheer about!

(Click on the above image to read the full article – Source : ET Realty)

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has recently asked a builder in Mumbai to return an advance amount of Rs 26.15 lakh to a consumer, this is the first such order since the real estate law came into effect in the state (Maharashtra) on May 1.

As per the RERA authority, the complainant (Home buyer) had booked the flat in 2012-13 and was assured by the developer that the project would be completed in 2016. As the building has not yet been completed, the property buyer filed a complaint through Maharashtra RERA portal and got the verdict in his/her favor.

One more aggrieved home buyer (an elderly women) has approached the RERA authority and got the verdict in her favor.

(Click on the above image to read the full article – Source : ET Realty)

As per the complaint received by the authority, the property buyer had booked a Flat worth Rs 53 lakh in Feb 2013, and till march 2016, she had made payments to the tune of around Rs 40 lakh. For the last 10 months or so, the builder has been postponing the registration of flat in her name.

Hence, she filed her complaint with RERA and the builder has now completed the registration, following the directives of the RERA bench.

These are definitely good signs for Indian property buyers and the real-estate industry as a whole!

How to file Complaints against errant Property Builders online under RERA Act?

Although RERA is a central law, its implementation will depend on state governments, as real estate is a state subject.

Most of the states have now notified their own versions of RERA Act and have been implementing the enacted laws. Some of the states like Maharashtra and Karnataka have already launched their respective RERA portals for the benefit of all stake holders i.e., Real estate builders, Property Agents and Home buyers.

Below is the online procedure to file complaints against errant builders / promoters. I have provided the screenshots of two RERA portals – Maharashtra’s and Karnataka’s….

Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority Portal

The authority has so far received more than 98 complaints through its online RERA portal.

• To file a complaint against an errant property builder in Maharashtra, visit MahaRERA portal.
• Click on ‘Online Application‘ Menu option.
• Kindly register yourself by clicking ‘new registration‘ link.
• After creating your login credentials, login to your account and provide your personal & contact details, under ‘Account‘ option.
• Click on ‘Add new complaints‘ under ‘Complaint details’ and provide complete details of your complaint.
• Click on ‘Payment‘ option to pay fee online to RERA. As of now, the complainant has to pay a fee of Rs 5,000 to file a complaint under Maharashtra RERA Act. The mode of payment is NEFT or RTGS System or any other digital transaction mode.  (A complainant can also file complaint  offline at MAHARERA Desk in “ FORM A” provided by MAHARERA.)
• Once you submit the complaint, both the parties – builder & home buyer (complainant) would receive the notices from the authority to present their views. Based on this, the authority will award the verdict.
• In case, you are not satisfied with the decision made by RERA or its officer, you may file an appeal before the RERA Appellate Tribunal within a period of 60 days. From the date of the decision made by Appellate Tribunal, a person can also file an appeal to High Court within 60 days.

Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority

Below is the online procedure to submit complaints to RERA in Karnataka ;

• Kindly visit Karnataka RERA portal
• To register your complaint, click on ‘Complaint Registration‘ link in the home page
• Kindly complete the ‘complaint registration form‘, provide your contact details, Address and also of Builder’s.
• You have to provide details of the complaint in the form. If required, you can also request for an ‘interim order’. You can upload any supporting and relevant documents to justify your case.
• You have to pay the applicable fee of Rs 1,000 online.
• Check the declarations and ‘submit’ your complaint online.

All this may look impressive and beneficial to real estate property buyers, but the main contentious issue for the builders has been ‘the inclusion of on-going (under-construction properties) projects under the RERA Act’.

The various associations of builders across the nation have been challenging the law, particularly sections that put old projects — started before the RERA law was passed and are yet to be completed, under the ambit of the regulator. They have approached the various state High-courts and also the Supreme court, awaiting for the judgement. (As per the builders, Section 3 of the RERA Act, which says ongoing projects must be registered, is applied retrospectively and therefore violates their constitutional safeguards.)

Let’s hope that a well balanced RERA Act is beneficial and ensures a level-playing field for all the stake holders of the real estate industry.

Continue reading : ‘Real Estate Regulations & Development Act (RERA) : Key points & Review‘

(Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net) (Post published on : 08-September-2017)