In present times, world has become globalized and the global economy is steeping forward in
every sector whether it’s is agriculture, industrial or service sector. Real estate sector contributes to 9% GDP. Due to this and many other factors like foreign investment, shortage of land, the price of real estates are also increasing. So, in order to protect the interest of the purchaser and rising in the price of the real estate, the government has enacted Real Estate Regulation and Development Act 2016 to monitor the real estate sector across all the states. The government also aims to protect the home purchasers from the unfair trade practices which is done by builder or his/her real estate company.
What is RERA Act ?
RERA stands for Real Estate Regulatory Authority came into existence as per the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 which aims to protect the purchasers of the homes, looks after the interest of the purchasers and also boosts the real estate investments. The bill of this Act was passed on 10 March 2016 by the Upper House (Rajya Sabha). It came into effect from 1 May 2016. Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act is enforced in every state to manage the real estate sector and helps in fast and efficient dispute settlement. As per the RERA Act, it becomes mandatory for all residential and commercial real estate projects where the land is over 500 square metres to register with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) for launch of any project. This registration helps in creating better transparency in the execution of launched projects. Under the Section 84 of the RERA Act, it states that within 6 months of the RERA Act being enforced, State Governments shall make rules for carrying out the provisions of the Act.
What is RERA act of Haryana?
RERA ( Real Estate Regulatory Authority) Haryana is the regulatory body that promotes and looks after the real estate sector. RERA in Haryana was set up in 2017 and the RERA Act Haryana is implemented via two branches: HRERA Gurugram and HRERA Panchkula.
What is RERA act of Maharashtra?
In 2017, the Maharashtra government created the RERA in Maharashtra, (MahaRERA) for the promotion and regulation of the Maharashtra real estate industry. MahaRERA is governed by the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 and its head quarter is in Mumbai.
Benefits and condition of filing case as per the procedure of RERA act
RERA act 2016 was enacted an came into force for protecting the interest of the homebuyers in India. Its objective is to ensure that the sale of real estate property or project is done as per the real estate laws and rules and provides remedy to homebuyer in filing complaints against defaulting builders, especially in case of delay possession. This act provides a dedicated and separate tribunal to deal with real estate disputes with the builder. A homebuyers can file a complaint as per the RERA act for reasons such as increased price, poor quality of construction, defective title, delay in possession, false advertisement, improper registration of a project, structural deficiencies etc. The other objectives of RERA act is to increase transparency and accountability in real estate transactions.
RERA act provides a mechanism to solve the disputes within 120 days. It also provides a mechanism for legal compensation as a remedy to be paid by promoters to homebuyers for delayed projects. At the same time, this act provide rights to property buyers under Section 20, First- the allotters have the right to receive complete information about the transaction of sale that has been signed with the promoters, Second to be aware about how much of the construction has been completed, third, to file a RERA complaint about the delay of possession of apartment, land or building, fourth, to claim refund of amount with interest and compensation and fifth, to have the necessary documents and plans.
Relevant case laws under RERA act
Case Name- Avinash Saraf vs. Runwal homes pvt Ltd.
Court- Maharashtra RERA Tribunal
Facts-
The complainant – Avinash Saraf had an agreement with the builder- Runwal homes pvt. Ltd which stated that complainant should get the possession of the flat by August 2016. However, the builder had failed to do so even after a year later.
Contention by Complainant
The complainant contended that he haven’t get the possession of the house as per the accorded time and the bank from which he had taken the loan started collecting EMIs with interest from the agreed date of handover. So, the complainant sought for a refund of the amount which he paid for the building i.e., 97% of the total consideration with an interest of 21% per annum along with the compensation from the builder.
Principal of the case
1. Tribunal held that it is having jurisdiction even for those facts of the case or the agreements which had been undertaken even before the enaction of RERA act. Further the quasi-judicial
body had given the reasoning for this that the cause of action for such agreements or case survived after the act came into force.
Judgement-
The authority held that the possession without certificate is illegal, hence they granted a full refund of payment to the complainant along with interest and the cost of the complaint.
Procedure to File Complaint as per the RERA act.
If you are buying a home and the builder is not giving the possession at time or if he is doing false advertisement then you can file complaint as per the RERA act. Link for states are different.
Link
Uttar Pradesh- https://www.up-rera.in/WebForm2.aspx
Maharashtra- https://maharerait.mahaonline.gov.in/
Haryana- https://haryanarera.gov.in/login/loginview/3
Written by-
Name- Aashay Sundaram
College- Gautam Buddha University, Noida
Semester- 2nd