56% of home buyers prefer state RERA regulators to file complaints against builders

More than half of home buyers prefer to file their complaints against builders with real estate regulators established under the RERA Act that came into force in May 2017, according to realty portal Magicbricks' consumer survey. The Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Act 2016, (RERA) has been able to instill faith and confidence among consumers, the portal feels.

While 56 per cent of respondents prefer the RERA regulator in case of a dispute, 23 per cent still prefer to file their first complaint with the builder. Around 12 per cent home buyers said that they would go to consumer courts. Just 7 per cent chose to go to the police and 2 per cent would either go to the High Court or the Supreme Court.

Magicbricks also spoke to RERA regulators from Gurgaon, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand, who have been flooded with complaints from consumers. K K Khandelwal, RERA Regulator Haryana, said 1,800 complaints have been filed so far and still they are receiving 15-20 complaints daily.

For Uttar Pradesh (UP) RERA regulator Rajive Kumar, there was a backlog of 8,100 complaints, of which 2,200 have been disposed of. He expects that by January 2019 all pending complaints would be addressed, the statement said.

Madhya Pradesh regulator Anthony de Sa is trying to ensure that all complaints have their first hearing within 30 days. In Uttarakhand, Regulator Vishnu Kumar has 266 complaints in 225 registered projects.