NEW DELHI: The Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE) has highlighted that several state real estate regulators are neglecting their legal requirement to regularly publish annual reports.
In a statement this Friday, FPCE pointed out their non-compliance with Section 78 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.
“Despite clear legal obligations and repeated instructions from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, over 75% of State RERA Authorities across India have either never published annual reports, stopped publication, or are not current,” FPCE noted.
The organization urged the ministry to direct all RERA authorities to submit annual reports in the required format.
It also recommended that the ministry press state governments to utilize Sections 82 and 83 of the Act to enforce stringent actions against non-compliant authorities.
“A new clause should be added to empower the central government to dismiss any authority or its members if they fail to adhere to central government directives,” FPCE stated.
The group emphasized that annual report data is crucial not only for homebuyers to gauge system reliability but also for state and central governments to formulate effective policies, incentivization schemes, and tax frameworks.
“Without credible data demonstrating improvement in delivery, fairness, and accountability since RERA’s implementation, we may as well be shooting in the dark,” said FPCE President Abhay Upadhyay.
“Unsuspecting homebuyers risk exploitation—now aided by RERA, which has become just a badge of honor for builders, allowing them to sell projects without the responsibility to uphold the Act’s provisions,” he added.
The association reported that seven major states (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Goa) have yet to publish a single annual report since RERA came into effect. Additionally, nine states, including significant markets like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana, which initially published reports, have halted their publication.
