HYDERABAD: While the Centre passed the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 to regulate and promote the real estate industry the state government has failed to appoint a regulatory authority and an appellate tribunal since five years, in violation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and putting buyers and sellers at risk.
The RERA was established to safeguard consumer interests and ensure that real estate projects were sold in a responsible and transparent manner. According to Section 20 (1) of the Act, the state government must establish a RERA with a chairperson and at least two members within a year of the Act coming into force.
Additionally, pending the establishment of the authority, the state government should designate an officer of the rank of secretary as a stopgap measure. The Telangana government designated the special chief secretary, revenue, as the regulatory authority by GO No. 6 dated January 11, 2018.
As a governing body, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar has been acting as a regulatory authority for about three years. Additionally, the state government must establish an appellate tribunal within a year in compliance with Section 43 (1) of the Real Estate Act.
City-based activist M. Padmanabha Reddy said that appointments had not been made for the past five years. "We have made several representations to the government in this regard, but nothing has been done. We filed a petition in the High Court. The government has failed to file a counter since the past 10 months, and it's unclear when the issue will be resolved.”
He pointed out that the Chief Secretary held additional charge of at least six important departments, including RERA.
The activist claimed that there were allegations that middlemen are acting as agents to obtain permission due to unusual delays in processing applications under the RERA, and that there was widespread corruption in processing of pending applications.
He emphasised that the Act's intent was being defeated by the absence of a regulatory authority and appealed to Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to take action to create the RERA and appellate tribunal to safeguard consumer interests and to expeditiously resolve disputes.
