What the SC order on RERA means for homebuyers

News: Recently, The Supreme Court had suggested some changes in the Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act (RERA) to protect the interests of homebuyers.

What are the impacts of ruling on the RERA act?

The ruling strengthens the interests of homebuyers, protects their rights, and tells developers to conform to the RERA provisions. SC rulings can be classified under the three categories as given below.

Retroactive application of RERA: Making RERA retroactive means it will cover the projects, that were ongoing at the time of the Act’s implementation and for which the completion certificate was not issued. It will go against the states that diluted the RERA act to exclude such projects.

Jurisdiction under RERA: The top court ruled that RERA has exclusive jurisdiction to direct; refund and interest on the refund, or direct payment of interest for delayed delivery of possession, or penalty and interest, to the allottee.

Faster dispute resolution: The Supreme Court made it mandatory for developers to deposit at least 30% of the penalty ordered by the regulator before they challenge any RERA order in the High Court. Earlier home buyers had to wait for the resolution due to lengthy legal procedures and appeal against orders.

What are the implications of the judgment?

For states: Many states which diluted RERA provisions may now have to amend the regulations.

For homebuyers: It will result in a better grievance redressal mechanism and a uniform regulatory framework across states.

For developers: Now developers have to register the projects ongoing during the commencement of the Act.

Source: This post is based on the article “What the SC order on RERA means for homebuyers” published in Live mint on 17th November 2021.