The Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) has refused to stay the proceedings of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against real estate major DLF and permitted the competition watchdog to go ahead with its inquiry. Compat will hear the case on February 10.
RERA is yet again under the scanner after the Supreme Court of India questioned whether it is a rehabilitation center of ex bureaucrats. The functioning and performance of RERA, or rather lack of it, has been challenged at each and every level in now nearly 8 years of its existence. A Track2Realty report. Wait! I am not giving any opinion. My opinion is already there in the public domain. Now the Apex Court in the country, the Supreme Court of India is saying so. I have always maintained that the very purpose of RERA was defeated when the ex-Bureaucrats were made the Chairman and members.
Positioned close to major attractions such as Yashobhoomi (Asia’s largest convention center), IGI Airport (ranked among the world’s top 10 airports), Bharat Vandana Park (spanning 200 acres and one of Delhi’s largest parks, akin to Hyde Park and Central Park), and the upcoming diplomatic enclave with 39 embassies, the project is set to capture significant visitor traffic. The nearby Metrolite light rail system will further enhance accessibility. The project is expected to be completed by 2027 and to generate over Rs 4,200 crore in revenue during its lifecycle.
Housing project is approved by the government agency; RERA; and banks & financial institutions! Shouldn’t this be enough to instil confidence of the home buyers that the housing project is safe to invest? How could otherwise a builder with poor execution capabilities or fiscal imbalance cross the three eyes of scrutiny and dodge the bullet at each and every level of checks & balances? Track2Realty questions as to who is the custodian of due diligence in the housing market?
As RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) is close to its 7 years of completion, the home buyers across the nation have more to complain than compliment with what was supposed to be a game changer legislation. The buyers rather question as to RERA has been enacted to serve whose purpose. Most of the home buyers across India’s top 10 cities point out that the ground realities have not changed for them. A vast majority of them feel it has opened another window of litigation and thus hurts than helps the buyers. Issues range from lack of transparency to accountability, and existing market realities to consumer interface.
Bombarded by the celebrity cricket icon as its brand ambassador, a gullible home buyer, Akshat Jain in Greater Noida, bought an apartment with the builder. However, his dreams of a sweet home had a crash landing when the developer defaulted and reports of conflict emerged between the developer and the cricketer over the non-payment of endorsement fee. Track2Realty probes whether celebrity brand ambassadors could be made liable if the builder fails with the promise.
Intygrat Law Offices, a boutique law firm that has multiple real estate as well as home buyers’ client portfolio has been honoured with the National Legal Excellence Award at the ASSOCHAM’s Bharat Legal Conclave 2023. The award ceremony was in New Delhi on Friday, October 20, 2023.
This is not a one-off stray incident of cheating in the housing market in this part of the world. Srikanth had a similar experience with the Gurugram-based developer when he wished to sell out his much-delayed under-construction property due to medical emergency in the family. The developer refused to transfer the property in the name of the new buyer. He instead offered him to buy back the said property at three years old price when Srikanth had booked the apartment. The choice for this harassed home buyer was to either forget about the appreciation or else get into a costly and lengthy litigation.
The Supreme Court had directed a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into alleged money laundering by the developers, that provided relief to over 42,000 home buyers of the Amrapali Group with the verdict.
Projects worth INR 4,64,300 crore for a total of 575,900 units are already significantly behind schedule. These 5,75,900 units have been stuck since 2013 or before. However, what is even more disturbing than these staggering number is the fact that in many of the states RERA has been diluted to the extent that it allows the erring developers with the existing projects to get away with the fault lines.