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The Forum for People's Collective Efforts (FPCE), a pan-India homebuyers' body, has raised concerns about the formation and structure of the West Bengal housing department's committee for implementing the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016, and the West Bengal Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Rules, 2021.
Last week, the state government formed a nine-member West Bengal State Working Committee on WBRERA, which includes two members from the state government's housing department, three from the West Bengal real estate regulatory authority, and four real estate developers operating in the state. The committee will be jointly convened by Debasis Ghosh, joint secretary of the state's housing department, and the president of the real estate developers' body CREDAI-Bengal.
However, FPCE has raised concerns about the committee's structure, pointing out that there is no representation for homebuyers and that real estate developers are disproportionately represented. According to FPCE President Abhay Upadhyay, the most important stakeholder, homebuyers, has not been considered, despite being the ones who suffer from the sector's lack of transparency and malpractices.
Upadhyay, who is also a member of the Central Advisory Council of RERA under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, emphasized that the consumers of RERA should be empowered, and they should have been part of this committee to ensure the effective implementation of RERA.
In December, the WBRERA was established, and it began operating nearly 18 months after the Supreme Court struck down the state's own legislation, West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act, 2017 (WBHIRA), holding it unconstitutional and paving the way for the implementation of RERA in the state. In February 2022, the apex court directed the state to implement RERA immediately.
FPCE had previously written to the state's chief minister in August, raising concerns about the launch and sale of unregistered projects in the state. It also raised issues such as accepting more than 10% of the homebuyers' money without executing builder-buyer agreements, diverting funds from projects, and changing sanctioned plans and specifications after projects had been sold without the written consent of two-thirds of allottees for gains.
The homebuyers' body has been advocating for the implementation of the central Act in the state and has been in constant dialogue with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for the same. It had also filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the WBHIRA.
FPCE's concerns are valid, as RERA was conceptualized to protect the homebuyers' interests and promote transparency and accountability in the real estate sector. The committee's structure should ensure that homebuyers are adequately represented and that their interests are protected. It is also crucial to ensure the effective implementation of RERA, which will improve the sector's transparency and help prevent malpractices. Therefore, the state government should consider including homebuyers' representatives in the committee to ensure that their interests are represented, and the effective implementation of RERA is ensured.
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