UP-Rera to focus on recovery of buyers’ money from realtors

UP-Rera officials said they will start attaching the assets of realtors who are delaying the refund to homebuyers

The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP-Rera) said it has started speeding up the process to recover homebuyers’ money from realtors who have failed to deliver projects, after buyers started seeking refund amid uncertainties about project completion.

According to rules, homebuyers seeking refund in realty projects that failed to live up to promises made during flat sale, file their complaints with UP-Rera. Several buyers also seek refund as they do not trust the realtor to deliver the project. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

UP-Rera officials said they will start attaching the assets of realtors who are delaying the refund to homebuyers and recover the money by auctioning attached properties on public platforms.

According to rules, homebuyers seeking refund in realty projects that failed to live up to promises made during flat sale, file their complaints with UP-Rera. Several buyers also seek refund as they do not trust the realtor to deliver the project.

Once a case is filed, UP-Rera then gives time to realtors to issue the refund on their own and if they do not, then UP-Rera has the power to attach builder assets, auction it, raise funds and then hand it over to buyers.

“The UP-Rera has issued more than 8,575 recovery certificates amounting to ₹3,015 crore so far and about 32% of this amount has been recovered till date. Of this, ₹630.70 crore has been recovered by district administrations across the state and deposited into accounts of 3,421 allottees. And recovery certificates worth ₹338.50 crore have been resolved in 1,185 cases between promoters and allottees,” said Sanjay Bhoosreddy, chairman, UP-Rera.

UP-Rera said recovery certificates are resolved incrementally and therefore, it takes time to execute them and recover the amount from realtors. Officials further said these are financial matters, so they need to be resolved financially.

“Our motive is to issue RC with an aim to resolve issues between homebuyers and promoters,” said Bhoosreddy.

In 8,100 cases, homebuyers and promoters have reached settlements involving properties with a total value of ₹2,950 crore. The conciliation forum has also settled properties with a total value of ₹500 crore, involving 1,290 allottees, said officials.

“The UP-Rera has resolved about 90% of consumer complaints and as per our data, of the 50,900 consumer complaints received, 43,930 have been resolved till date. These complaints make up about 39% of the total complaints in the country, and the overall disposal rate in the country is about 40%,” said Bhoosreddy.

In addition, UP-Rera has issued 15,045 execution orders, of which 10,960 have been executed properly.

Majority of these cases are from eight districts in the National Capital Region, including Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad, as well as Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, and Meerut, where urbanization has led to the development of numerous group housing societies.

The UP-Rera launched e-courts in February 2020, with seven benches, including four in Gautam Budh Nagar and three in Lucknow.

“It was the first regulatory authority in the country to achieve this. Since the launch of e-courts, more than 27,100 complaints have been filed through the e-Courts module, and the Authority has resolved over 20,700 cases. The authority is also processing complaints filed before the e-courts,” said Bhoosreddy.

“We are working on a new version of the existing website to make it more convenient and user-friendly, equipped with new technological features such as artificial intelligence. These technologies will be used to expedite the filing and resolution of complaints. The new version is expected to be ready by the end of the year,” said Bhoosreddy.