Till the year 2015, the functioning of Indian Real Estate had discrepancies. Issues related to project delivery delays, property pricing, quality of construction, and others lacked a platform where such issues could be addressed and answered. The unstructured functioning of the industry gave birth to the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act.
The Bill of RERA was first introduced in the year 2013 by the UPA 2 Government. It got an approval of both the Houses of Parliament in 2016. Finally, RERA Act came into force on 1st May 2016 while some remaining provisions came into force on 1st May 2017.
A homebuyer-centric regulatory body
RERA as a regulatory body consists of a set of guidelines for the real estate industry with an aim to protect the homebuyers and improve the real estate economy. Before heading on to file a complaint under the Act against errant developer(s), the buyer should be sure that the property is a RERA-certified and have the RERA registration number as well. On the other hand, some developers or real estate agents will possibly confuse buyers by putting up boards like ‘RERA Applied For’ for the concerned property and trick them into believing that the project is RERA-certified or listed. The potential homebuyers should address such blatant misuse of the Act.
Also Read: Rera Act Features and Benefits
Status of RERA Act in all parts of India
Registering a complaint requires paying a sum of money (varies from state to state) to the respective State Authority. All the states and UTs comply with the central RERA policies, and only a few states have a small number of differences. Lodging a complaint with the RERA authority can be done both offline and online, considering many states have their own websites for homebuyers to express their grievances online.
The Map below demonstrates the presence and status of RERA in every state and Union Territory in India:
Offline application procedure in RERA
Filing a complaint under Section 31 of RERA against promoters, allottees or agents, is required to be in the form. To initiate a case, the aggrieved party (homebuyer) must file an application with necessary details like complainant name, property information, etc.
Click the link to get an idea of the details required to fill in the form of RERA- Check HERE
Online application procedure in RERA
1. Visit the concerned state’s official website. Search for the page of Complaint Registration (or similar terms) in the website and click.
2. You will be directed to the complaint form. You are required to fill the details of your complaint.
3. In case the website gives an option of attaching supporting documents, you are recommended to do it.
4. Once you have filled the details, you will have to pay a sum of ₹ 1,000 (or more depending on which state). For payment, online payment mode is available for completing the transaction.
For instance, if you want to lodge a complaint under RERA for the property you have bought in Gurugram, Haryana, click HERE
Such a page will appear on your screen. Click on Complaint Registration and proceed further:
Be quick at filing a complaint under RERA
The most important thing to note is - in case of any violation of the concerned property, one should immediately approach the RERA authority. The Regulatory Body will not disappoint those whose claims are justified. The Act doesn't provide a specific time frame for filing a complaint. However, we highly recommend you to be quick on filing yours. A delay can weaken your case and may fail to seek the response you expect. RERA Act adheres to the time frame policies of the Limitation Act, according to which every claim will follow a different time frame.
Also Read: Types of Commercial Lease
Some loopholes in the RERA Act
If a project does not fall under the jurisdiction of RERA Act, the consumer may find it difficult to justify his/her claim.
Many ongoing projects are potentially unregistered under RERA even now.
Many states have still not appointed the adjudicating officers as per the Section 71 and 72 of RERA Act, 2016.
In a case where consumers may not know how to file a complaint against a project that is not registered, they are advised to file it online mentioning the exact location.