NEW DELHI: With homebuyers continuing to face years of delays in getting possession of their homes despite RERA’s enactment, pan-India homebuyers’ body FPCE has urged PM Narendra Modi to overhaul the law by separating consumer protection from real estate sector promotion. It has flagged an inherent conflict between the two objectives of RERA and persistent enforcement failures by regulators.Flagging how different RERAs across states are giving priority to promotion of real estate sector over playing stricter regulatory role to bring relief to buyers, Abhay Upadhyay, a member of govt’s advisory council for RERA and FPCE has urged govt to separate “promotion from protection” and re-enact RERA as “Real Estate Homebuyers Protection Act”.This comes as govt prepares to amend the law that was enacted in 2016 with the promise to end delay in completion of projects and protect consumers’ interest. The homebuyers body has suggested to PM a recast of the law to place “homebuyers protection, transparency, promoter accountability, prevention of malpractices and effective grievance redressal at the centre of the legislation”.
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Upadhyay said, “Parliament created a regulatory authority; but in practice, it has become a development authority. If the very character of a law can change after it is enacted, no law can ever succeed. It is high time the authorities themselves were made accountable.” He added that there is a structural contradiction in the priority to promote the sector could influence enforcement decisions, more so when regulatory authorities are evaluated on the number of projects registered and for facilitating execution.It has also suggested entrusting the administration of RERA law to a consumer protection ministry such as the consumer affairs department with appropriate institutional arrangements. FPCE has suggested bringing in an effective accountability framework so that repeated failures to enforce statutory provisions or pass arbitrary orders, prevent violations and executive orders do not continue without scrutiny or consequences.
