BENGALURU: A homebuyers forum in Karnataka has written to the government mentioning what they claim are shortcomings of the state’s real estate regulatory body and urging it to make Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act more effective for protecting the interests of flat owners.
Forum for Peoples’ Collective Efforts (FPCE), an umbrella body of homebuyers, on Friday wrote to CM BS Yediyurappa, and principal secretary, housing department, Manoj Kumar Meena, on completion of four years of RERA enforcement in the state.
It was notified on July 10, 2017. RERA was passed by Parliament in March 2016 to regulate and promote realty in an efficient manner. All provisions of the law came into force from May 2017.
FPCE general secretary MS Shankar said in the letter: “Failures and shortcomings of RERA have outweighed benefits derived from it by a wide margin. The authorities have failed in their prime objectives/responsibilities to enforce RERA as per its true intent and protect interests of homebuyers.” Shankar said there is lack of transparency on the Karnataka RERA webpage regarding project-wise details of registered projects and those whose registrations have been rejected, withdrawn or expired. “Non-availability of such data amounts to the officials concerned providing an opportunity to unscrupulous promoters/builders to lead the real estate industry back to pre-RERA status by luring buyers to invest in projects that were rejected or withdrawn and registered projects that had expired,” he said.
Shankar added detailed data related to complaints and judgments is not available for the public. “We can only hope the government will wake up from its slumber and take appropriate steps to ensure RERA becomes more effective and meets the expectations of homebuyers, by immediately reviewing functioning of Karnataka RERA and initiating corrective actions,” he said.
