Homebuyers of Jharkhand may positively have to wait for another month for regulatory authorities to come under the RERA guidelines and Act. If top officials of the Department of Urban Development and Housing are to believed files related to making crucial appointments into the State’s apex body mandated to come-up under the Act have reached and pending with it.
It is learnt that as per the set rules a selection committee headed by the Chief Justice of the State’s High Court (or anyone nominated by him), the Housing Secretary and the Law Secretary has shortlisted names for filling up the posts of Jharkhand RERA Chairperson and two members into the Tribunal.
“That process has been completed and two names against each of the positions into the Commission as well as the Tribunal have been sent to the Government for taking final decision. The related file has been forwarded and the decision is awaited,” said Gajanan Ram, Town Planner with Urban Development and Housing Department cum OSD with the Interim Jharkhand Real Estate Regulatory Authority.
As per the Section 46 of the RERA, the Chairman of the Appellate Tribunal shall be a sitting or retired Judge of the High Court accompanied by at-least two Members one of whom shall be a Judicial Member and the other shall be a Technical or Administrative Member. Also the RERA Act, 2016 says it is incumbent upon all the States and Union territories (UTs) to notify their respective RERA rules, create online portals and appoint permanent regulators which should have been done by now.
Moreover, a lasted survey report jointly published by industry conglomerate FICCI and Grant Thornton revealed that only six permanent and 17 interim RERA regulators have been appointed so far across the country of which Jharkhand could manage to appoint only interim regulator and launch the portal.
When contacted about pending status of the watchdog, which is supposed to register with it compulsorily all the under-construction projects, along with builders and agents, along with the Tribunal meant to listen to the appeals of aggrieved homebuyers, Department Secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh gave another probable timeline. “Shortlisted names have come to the Department. Final decision on these appointments is yet to be taken. It is likely that the decision may take one more month to come,” said the official.
Nationally around 25,000 real estate developers and 23,000 real estate agents have registered themselves under RERA thus far. Similarly registration process for builders and agents is also going on in across Jharkhand for new housing projects and some of those are also leading to mutual disputes. But no relief to the aggrieved parties is coming in the want of the Tribunal resulting into huge pendency of cases.
Source from : https://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/ranchi/rera-tribunal-another-month-away-in-jharkhand.html
