Gurgaon residents mull moving court to get ‘undiluted’ RERA

Gurgaon homebuyers are thinking of taking a legal recourse to get a stronger act that would bring errant developers to book

Not satisfied with the rules of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) notified by the Haryana government on Tuesday, residents of private localities are considering taking the legal recourse for a “stronger RERA”.

The Haryana cabinet approved the state's RERA rules on Tuesday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

A number of homebuyers are also planning statewide protests against the approved rules. The residents said a “diluted RERA” was something that they had been apprehensive about and that they had already started taking legal opinions on the matter.

Gurgaon Citizens’ Council (GCC), Federation of Apartments Owners’ Association (FAOA) and others organisations are of the opinion that they have to take the battle to the next level — which in this case means state wide protests — for getting permanent relief.

Shephalika Sharma, vice president, FAOA, said, “We are planning a larger movement across the country. The RERA, as notified by the Haryana government, has been disappointing but it was something that we anticipated. The FAOA is writing to the Prime Minister’s office and the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation (HUPA), which had conceptualised the RERA.”

“Collective action at a pan-India level will be initiated by forums such as the Undiluted RERA, Fight for RERA, FAOA and others to ensure that the law is uniform across the country and in line with the provisions stated by the Centre,” she said.

RS Rathee, president of GCC, said, “Our main point of contention is regarding private colonies that have failed to fulfil terms and conditions of the licence agreement for the past 30 years. That is why not a single developer has obtained a completion certificate (CC) in the past three decades. We cannot trust the government to ensure timely delivery of homes to lakhs of buyers who bought houses in projects that are delayed.”

“We wanted all licensed colonies, both old and new, to be brought under the RERA for speedy redressal of grievances,” he said, adding that old colonies such as Sushant Lok, DLF, Palam Vihar and Suncity have been found to have several infrastructure deficiencies in an assessment conducted recently.

The deficiency assessment was done by a private consultant at the behest of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram ahead of the takeover of these colonies by the civic body.

Rathee said homebuyers and residents will move a petition in the appropriate court. “We will try to ensure that all forums come together under one umbrella for the purpose,” he said.