RERA: A let down for home buyers

When the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority came into existence in 2017, home buyers were happy. They thought, at last, they have a forum to redress their common grievances, such as delay in completion of projects and getting short-changed by builders. However, five years down the line, the real estate watchdog has failed to live up to their expectations. There is a huge backlog of pending cases as RERA has failed to resolve complaints within stipulated time. Home buyers also see the watchdog as being soft on erring builders, Y. Maheswara Reddy reports.

Many hapless homebuyers were happy when the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority came into existence in 2017. Its objective was to reform the real estate sector, encourage greater transparency, citizen centricity, accountability and financial discipline.

However, if the number of pending complaints with Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority is any indication, the real estate watchdog has failed to measure up to home buyers’ expectations.

Now the frustrated home buyers have even approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi with their grievances and launched an online campaign against the watchdog.

The Karnataka Home Buyers Forum (KHBF) had submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister on January 4. The forum members said the RERA Act was brought to bring transparency and to protect home buyers’ interest, but in the last five years, RERA has failed to provide justice to home buyers.

According to the memorandum, there are more than 6,164 complaints registered with the Karnataka RERA, but only 315 of them have been sorted, and home buyers have been waiting for years to get their grievances redressed. It has also blamed lack of transparency about the Karnataka RERA’s initiatives on home buyers’ complaints.

The other major complaint is that the real estate watchdog has no time bound mechanism for collecting penalties imposed on builders and promoters for violating orders. It stated that as on August 31, 2021, the Karnataka RERA has succeeded in collecting only Rs 6.8 crore out of the total penalty of Rs 245 crore.

“The RERA complaint hearings which should be completed in two months as per the Act are not even being completed in two years. Not even a single order has been enforced by the RERA to recover the dues. There are no stringent actions being taken by RERA officials on builders for violation of their orders,” said a home buyer who has lodged a complaint with the RERA.

He said that RERA rather has become a boon for builders due to its inaction and many builders do not even care to register with the body. “Builders continue to delay the project and make buyers run around for justice with no other hopes. Even new project agreements are not enforced to be created as per act by the RERA,” he said.

Expressing concern over the delay in redressing home buyers’ grievance, Ashok M, secretary of Nada Prabhu Kempegowda Layout Open Forum has blamed the Karnataka RERA for not taking action against the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) for its failure to develop Nada Prabhu Kempegowda Layout on time. “The Karnataka RERA had fixed December 31, 2021 as the deadline to complete all the developmental works at the layout, but many developmental works are incomplete. It seems the Karnataka RERA officials do not want to act tough against government agencies due to the reasons best known to them,’’ Ashok said.

Dhananjay Padmanabhachar, convener of Karnataka Home Buyers Forum has said the RERA Karnataka has failed to give justice to home buyers for the last five years wasting their time and tax money. “We request the State Government to implement the RERA Act as per the design from the Central Government by appointing efficient officers who can understand home buyers’ problems,’’ he said. However, Karnataka RERA chairman Kishore Chandra HS has refused to comment.