Times of India: Gurgaon: Wednesday, January 24, 2018.
It's been
almost two months since the Haryana government appointed two IAS officers as
chairpersons of twin Rera benches. But they are yet to assume charge due to
pending "technicalities", preventing the much-awaited authorities
from becoming fully functional.
In November
last year, after much dilly-dallying, the government had named additional chief
secretary (education) KK Khandelwal as the head of the Gurgaon bench and
additional chief secretary (health) Rajan Gutpa as the chief of the Panchkula
bench. The government had then also promised to make a website of the authority
operational at the earliest, raising hopes among homebuyers who were pressing
for speedy implementation of the H-Rera Act that was notified last July to
essentially safeguard their interests.
But, two
months on, the two Rera benches one dedicated to entire Gurgaon district with
office in the city and the other to deal with cases from the rest of Haryana
having office in Panchkula are still headless and the proposed website is still
being developed.
Officials,
not willing to be named, revealed that as per rules, a serving IAS officer
could not assume the charge of Rera chairperson. However, the government named
two serving officers, who first need to opt for the voluntary retirement scheme
(VRS) before occupying their designated Rera posts.
Sources said
Khandelwal and Gupta had applied for the VRS and their applications were being
processed. However, no one could say when the two appointed chiefs would be
able to take charge of the things.
As a result,
buyers are still confused about how to lodge complaints or who should they
approach with their grievances. Gaurav Prakash, a homebuyer, said the
authorities had not been able to come up with its website or set up the office
till date. "In the absence of the website, a buyer has no means to check
whether a project is registered under the Rera. And with no officein place,
buyers are completely in the dark about the process of filing a
complaint," he rued.
An RTI plea
has revealed that nearly 382 projects, most of which are in Gurgaon, have been
registered under the Rera in Haryana since last July while buyers filed
complaints against 67 developers during the same period.
In response
to the query filed by Gurgaon-based activist Aseem Takyar, the authorities have
also claimed that 21 developers had been show-caused between May and June
(2017) for publishing advertisements on newspapers without registering their
projects under the Rera."I received a list of projects registered under
Rera in reply of an RTI petition. Most of the projects (almost 80%) are in
Gurgaon while the rest are in Faridabad, Rewari, Panipat, Rohtak and
Jhajjar," Takyar claimed.
Though a
large number of homebuyers are complaining about the delay in proper
implementation of the Act, realtors appear upbeat over the Rera rules.
Ravish
Kapoor, director, Elan Group, said, "The move to make registration of
projects and properties compulsory under the Rera has increased transparency.
Many developers are rushing to get completion certificates as they do not want to
default under the provisions of the new Act. Buyers look positive as they are
confident that they will get quality products within a deadline."
Ssumit Berry,
managing director, BDI Group, said, "The Rera has brought more
transparency to the sector. Both sides have equally benefited. If builders have
to give every detail of their projects, buyers also have to obey every rule of
the authorities. Cases of delayed payment and bounced cheque will also be
solved under this Act."
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