UPRERA News: Regulatory Authority to accept only written complaints from homebuyers

At a UPRERA hearing, a homebuyer Satish Sharma (name changed) had mentioned details of the date of booking the apartment, the amount paid to the developer and the date of possession based on what he could remember. When he checked the documents, he realized that the dates were not correct. However, the order was passed based on the details shared at the oral hearing. Dissatisfied with the order, the buyer approached the Authority again. A case that could have been settled within days, took months.

This is but one of the instances that has led UPRERA to standardize written submission of complaints.

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The Uttar Pradesh real estate regulatory authority’s (RERA) has now issued directions that going forward it will only accept submissions from home buyers in writing to avoid ‘unnecessary’ errors and delay in disposal of complaints.

To ensure quick disposal of the complaints before RERA Bench, a format has been prepared and uploaded on the portal by the Authority.

Why is written submission of complaints important?

This, said UPRERA officials, was necessary because many homebuyers often change the relief that they had sought after the final order is pronounced.

The written relief sought by the complainant before the final order provides concise and precise information to the bench on the basis of which a fair decision can be taken and many types of errors can be avoided. This will help save time for the RERA bench and complaints can be resolved quickly, a UPRERA official told HT Digital.

In several matters, the UPRERA found that after pronouncing the final order heard before the RERA bench, the complainants often changed the relief sought. Due to the lack of clarity in the requested relief by the complainant, a situation of doubt and confusion arises on the final order received from the bench and it causes unnecessary delay in the disposal of complaints.

Standard format for filing written complaints

To ensure speedy disposal of cases pending in the benches under Section 31, U.P. RERA has prepared a standard format of written submission for the complainants to place a brief and precise description of the relief sought before the RERA bench.

According to this format, the complainant will present the complete details of his property, agreement for sale, payments made to the promoter, his complaint and the relief sought before the RERA bench in writing.

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According to UP RERA chairman, Sanjay Bhoosreddy, “we have seen in many cases that the complainant deviates from his sought relief, due to which the time and hard work of the Authority as well as other stakeholders is wasted. To further strengthen the judicial process, the Authority will now issue the final order based on the submission of the sought relief in writing from the complainant so that the complainant can get a satisfactory final order, he does not deviate from his sought relief and we successfully ensure legal disposal of the complaints.”

The Authority will also introduce a similar standard format for the promoters so that there is harmony between both the parties after the final order and “we can achieve 100% disposal of the matters,” he said.

“This is more an effort to standardize written submissions. Invariably, homebuyers and even at times lawyers present written submissions in different formats and at times written submissions and concluding relief sought vastly differs from the online complaint and relief sought therein. So, this is more of a standardization effort,” said Venket Rao, RERA expert and founder of a law firm Intygrat.

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