Procedure to File a Complaint as Per 2018 Regulations of HRERA Gurugram

INTRODUCTION

India is one of the fastest developing nations across the world. Currently, the real estate sector is contributing 6-7% to the country’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is expected to go upto 13% by 2025 according to the reports. With such flourishing economy in various sectors like agricultural or service including the real estate, the government sensed the need of an act which protects the interests of not only the homebuyers but also the brokers, builders and stockholders of the real estate industry.

RERA ACT

The RERA Act which stands for The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act was enacted in May, 2016 with an object to provide relief to the buyers from malpractices and fraudulent acts of the builders. The act covers in detail the application process, grant, extension and revocation of registration along with duty of promoter and allottees with various other sections pertaining to central advisory council, appellate tribunal, penalties, adjudication and miscellaneous.

HRERA ACT

Haryana among others is one of the fastest urbanizing states of India. Its urban population has grown at the average rate of 4.42% per annum in the last 10 years with large number of state-of-the-art planned townships and urban estates. In order to facilitate the planned and orderly growth of buildings, and to establish a transparent and cohesive relationship between architects and real estate buyers, Haryana government has decided to establish two real estate regulators, one in Gurugram district and the other in the state. RERA Haryana was established in 2017 with two branches – HRERA Gurugram and HRERA Panchkula.

FILING A COMPLAINT UNDER HRERA

In 2018, the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Gurugram issued new regulations under Section 85 of the Real Estate Act (Regulation and Development), 2016 which were to establish procedures for filing and adjudication of complaints relating to building projects, and other matters.

WHO CAN FILE A COMPLAINT UNDER HRERA?

Any person who is entitled to Any person entitled to a relief under the Provisions of the Act, or the Regulations or the agreement made between the parties, can file a complaint with the Authority for contravention of the provisions of the Act or the the Regulations or the agreement against any promoter, allottee, or real estate agent. Under the act, the word “Person” includes the association of allottees or voluntary consumer association registered under any law for the time being in force

PROCEDURE OF FILING A COMPLAINT UNDER HRERA

• The procedure to file a complaint is very simple and can be done via internet using the official website of the authority-  https://haryanarera.gov.in/login/loginview/2.
• To file a complaint, the complainant should first register his complaint on the website of the Authority before filing the same before the Authority in the format prescribed in the 2018 Regulations.
• Till the time authority’s website is operational, the complaint can also be registered on paper with proforma-B. In proforma-B, all the relevant details of the complainant, the promoter-respondent and architectural project where the complaint is located in respect it should be given.
• The Mobile Number and Email Id provided by the complainant to Proforma ‘B’ will be called the Registered Mobile Number (RMN) and Registered Email ID (RMID) for the complaint. All contact with the complainant in the background Receipt of the complaint by the Authority will be made to the RMN and its RMID. A notice / communication made by the Authority on both channels is regarded as the proper delivery of the complaint to the complainant. Notification / post communication will not be required when a communication via RMN and RMID is verified.
• Then, the complainant may represent himself or herself before the Authority or do so through an authorized representative who may be a Chartered Accountant or Company Secretary or Expert Accountant or Legal Officer or any of the officials.
• Name, mobile number and email of the person or agency through the complainant who wishes to be represented will be deemed to be the claimant RMN and RMID of the plaintiff. Notice on RMN or RMID will be is considered an appropriate notification service for the complainant. The Authority will send all communications to the complainant once to the plaintiff’s attorney, but notification / contact to anyone one of them will be considered a notification / appropriate link to plaintiff.
• After registering Proforma-B on the Authority’s website, all complaints will be lodged before the Authority on a three-page follow-up page. wherein the Index, Print out of the registration of the complaint on the website of the Authority (Proforma B), List of dates, Brief facts, Details of the amount already paid by the complainant to the respondent, Details of the amount of interest being claimed by the complainant, Issues to be decided, Relief sought and the Affidavit should be mentioned in order.
• It is important to note that the full copy book of the complaint should be in serial number.

ADJUDICATION OF COMPLAINT FILED

All complaints made are examined by the office of the Secretary to the Authority to ensure that they are legible and in prescribed format. Usually, all the complaints are considered by the authority within a week of their receipt. After this, the secretary prepares a register of the complaints received and then gives one copy each to all members of the authority before the date of hearing which is informed to both the parties via email or telephone or courier. The respondent then submits 4 copies of his reply at least 7 days before the date of hearing. The reply shall also be sent to the complainant. In his reply the respondent can either explicitly agree with the statements made by the complainant as supported by documents or specifically deny the same. The authority then hears facts and circumstances of the case. It may adopt any procedure it deems appropriate to arrive a decision with mutual consent of both the parties.

 Orders passed by the Authority upon hearing, are recorded and communicated within two days. The same shall be communicated to both the parties on their RMID along-with a message on RMN. Final judgements delivered by the Authority is hosted on the website of the Authority and becomes a part of its database accessible to the public.

REFERENCES

1. https://haryanarera.gov.in/
2. https://haryanarera.gov.in/regulations/Regulations_AdjudicationOfComplaints.pdf
3. https://www.ibef.org/industry/real-estate-india.aspx

Written by: Himani Thareja (3rd Year)

College: Christ University, Delhi (Deemed to be University).