Mumbai: The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) bodies of various states and Union territories have been gaining increasing traction, particularly in terms of handling consumer complaints and registration of housing projects in their respective jurisdictions.
According to data from the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), relevant RERA bodies have resolved 1,16,300 cases of consumers grievances as on November 28. Out of this, 38% cases (44,602 complaints) were resolved in Uttar Pradesh alone, followed by Haryana with 20,604 cases (18%) and Maharashtra with 15,423 cases (13%). The three states cumulatively accounted for nearly 69% of the total disposed cases under RERA in the country.
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Registrations for projects and real estate agents under RERA have also been going up steadily over the years. Almost 1,16,117 projects and 82,755 real estate brokers nationwide were registered under RERA as on November 28, 2023. As many as 71,307 projects and 56,177 real estate agents were registered over the same period in 2021. This represents a 63% and 47% growth, respectively, over the previous two years.
Anarock Group chairman Anuj Puri said, “Resolving homebuyer concerns is one of the main functions of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, which it has been demonstrably fulfilling. More than 1.16 lakh consumer complaints have been handled by the various state and union territories’ RERA bodies, according to official data from MoHUA. Over the previous two years, the pace of project and real estate agent registrations was not slowed down.”
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Puri further added that the project registrations have increased dramatically by 63% over the past two years. Also, the RERA authorities of various states and UTs have resolved over 37,397 consumer complaints in this period. “Uttar Pradesh has resolved the highest number of cases. Considering how severely Noida and Greater Noida in UP had been impacted by unscrupulous players, this is noteworthy,” he added.
With 36% of all projects registered under RERA to date across 34 states and UTs, Maharashtra continues to lead the field in project registrations. With a share of 16%, Tamil Nadu is next, followed by Telangana and Gujarat, which have shares of roughly 7% and 11%, respectively.
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Reports state that Jharkhand’s RERA approved as many as 1,247 projects by November-end this year against 756 projects approved in the same corresponding period in 2021. Likewise, RERA had disposed of 256 cases till November this year against 86 a couple of years ago.
In Bihar also, about 1607 projects were registered with RERA till November this year vis a vis 1234 in the same month two years ago. Similarly, 3,251 complaints of the consumers were resolved by RERA in Bihar till November 2023 against total 678 handled in 2021.
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Almost all states/UTs have notified rules under RERA. The north-eastern state of Nagaland is still under process to notify its rules, while West Bengal – which earlier enacted its own legislation – was challenged on this by MoHUA before the Supreme Court.
In March 2022, the apex court struck down the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act, 2017 (WBHIRA), stating that it overlapped with RERA, which was enacted a law in the Parliament. 32 States/UTs have set up a Real Estate Regulatory Authority since implementation, and of this at least 5 are interim. Ladakh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim are yet to establish Real Estate Regulatory Authorities.
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28 States/UTs have set up Real Estate Appellate Tribunal for disposing of consumer complaints, including four as interim. Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, West Bengal and Sikkim are still underway to establish theirs.
Regulatory authorities of 30 States/UTs have operationalized their websites under RERA provisions. Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur are under process to operationalize. 26 States/UTs have appointed adjudicating officers, while 10 States/UTs i.e., Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh are yet to do so.
