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Mumbai: Transferred by Jayshree Sukhadia, resident of Chira Bazar Maharera In October 2020, after a project promoter in Neral allegedly demanded an additional amount and failed to return Rs 13 lakh paid for a flat booked in 2017, she sought a refund.
The first hearing on Sukhadia’s complaint was held in October 2021, i.e. a year after the complaint was filed and the matter referred to the conciliation forum. No date has been given for a hearing after the agreement fails in March 2022.
Sukhadia is not the only home buyer who is fighting for speedy justice. Out of 21,274 cases registered Maharera As of now, 6,989 cases are under trial or pending. Though the regulatory body was set up to provide justice to home buyers who are being harassed by unscrupulous promoters, the delay in hearing complaints has adversely affected home buyers. Some home buyers prefer to file a complaint in the consumer court than in MahaRERA.
The MahaRERA authorities attribute the delay in holding hearings and disposing of complaints to vacancies in the regulatory authority. Presently only two members including the Chairman are hearing the complaints of creating backlog. Despite protests and representations, the state government has not replaced the members who had already completed their tenure.
Anil D’Souza, secretary of the Maharera Bar Association, says, ‘The next date of hearing in all other courts has been fixed at least within two to three months. But in MahaRERA it takes more than a year for the next hearing date itself. Cases are often adjourned sine die, meaning without giving the next date. How can you work with less number of benches when the number of complaints keeps on increasing?”
“Around 300 new complaints are registered with MahaRERA in a month. Although almost the same number of complaints are being disposed of in a month by both the Benches. For the last two years, MahaRERA had only two members apart from the adjudicating members. The government tried to appoint additional members. However, the appointments could not be made due to various reasons. The appointment of just one member will solve the problem and clear the backlog of complaints, said a MahaRERA official.
Valsa Nair Singh, additional chief secretary, housing, did not respond to calls and text messages from this correspondent seeking comment.
Watchdog Foundation’s advocate Godfrey Pimenta said, “Section 21 of the Real Estate (Regulatory and Development) Act, 2016 states that “the authority shall consist of a chairperson and at least two full-time members to be appointed by the government. date wiseRare There is a chairman and only one member. The Adjudicating Officer appointed under section 71 of RERA cannot be considered for the purposes of composition of members as mandated under section 21 of RERA.
Godfrey pointed out that the Real Estate (Regulatory and Development) Act, 2016 also mandates disposal of complaints within a period of 60 days. “However, this cannot be achieved in MahaRERA, as the vacancies have not been filed by the state government. While filling the vacancies, the state has to appoint members with judicial background instead of appointing retired IAS officers,” Godfrey said. Needed
“We have written to the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court to consider the appointment of additional members,” D’Souza said.
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