Page 53 - RERA Performance Report 2020

The word ‘compensation’ has not been defined in The Real Estate (Regulation and
Development) Act 2016. According to the Oxford dictionary, compensation is typically
money, awarded in recognition of loss, suffering or injury. Other words like repayment,
reimbursement, remuneration, requital, indemnity, redress and more may be used as a
form of compensation. Compensation has been defined in Consumer Protection Act 1986 as
‘any loss injury suffered by the consumer due to negligence of the opposite party’. In the
legal sense, it may constitute actual loss or expected loss and may extend to physical,
mental or even emotional suffering, insult or injury or loss.
The objective of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 is to ensure greater
accountability towards consumers and significantly reduce frauds and delays by the
promoters. It attempts to balance the interest of consumers and promoters by imposing
certain responsibilities on both. If the promoter fails to complete the project, or is unable to
give possession of a unit, he is liable to pay compensation to the allottee.
Compensation can be given to anyone who has suffered a loss, be it mental, physical or
financial. RERA facilitates the allottee to get compensation from a promoter in matters of
delay in possession and other conditions as provided in the Act. The procedure adopted for
the compensation is called adjudication and the person who gives judgements for such
cases is called an Adjudicating officer. An allottee, who claims compensation, needs to
register a complaint on the website of UP RERA. After registration, the opposite party gets
an intimation notice, containing the date of the hearing. The applicant and the opposite
party must give all necessary details, stating reasons why he/she deserves compensation
and similarly why the opposite party contests the claim for compensation. The value of
compensation is calculated either by calculating the total rent paid and bank interest on
property’s cost. Most of the cases are closed within 4-5 months, quite a handful are closed
within two months depending on the availability of the documentary evidence and the
polarity of a case.
Section 71 of the RERA Act provides for appointment of Adjudicating officers for
determination of compensation to allottees. The Authority on 2nd April 2019 in consultation
with the Government appointed Adjudicating officers for Lucknow and Greater Noida
offices for adjudication of compensation as provided in the Act.
The allottees file complaints with RERA and the Authority decides the complaint. If the
complainant has requested for compensation also, the Authority refers the complaint to the
Adjudicating Officer for deciding the compensation. The allottee has the facility to file
online complaint for compensation in Form N which is then heard and decided by the
Adjudicating Officer as per the provisions of the Act.
53 U.P. RERA PERFORMANCE REPORT 2020
Execution of orders
Ensuring compliances of the orders of the
Authority is the most challenging concern
before it. The magnitude of the pending
compliances is naturally higher in U.P. RERA as
the number of decided complaints is the
highest in the country. The orders of the
Authority are broadly classified under 12
categories, including 4991 orders of payment of
money, and 7242 orders of possession of units.
The willing compliance of these orders is the
last thing that can be expected from most of
the promoters. Hence, the Authority has
provided a convenient mechanism for
complainants to raise a request for execution of
the orders on its website. It has further laid
down an SOP for the execution of orders which
is available on its website.
While U.P. RERA has so far issued 1984 recovery
certificates amounting to Rs. 630.11 crores the
recovery against these recovery certificate has
not been very encouraging for a variety of
factors.
The matters relating to possession and other orders of the Authority, where the promoter
has not complied with the orders are being heard by the respective benches of the
Authority under section 38/40/63 of the Act and rule 24 of the U.P. RERA Rules through
virtual hearing mode. The Authority is imposing penalties and further proposes to impose
heavy penalties upon the defaulting promoters as provided under section 63 of the Act.
Constructive interface with all stakeholders
The Authority appreciates that most of the stakeholders, whether home buyers, promoters,
real estate agents or their associations, competent authorities, financial institutions and
other regulators are functioning from their respective silos, which sometimes causes delays
and disputes leading to litigations. U.P. RERA, therefore, has been consistently attempting
to bring all the stakeholders on a common platform for realizing the common objectives.
The most noticeable of such initiatives was the organizing of the 1st National RERA Conclave
at Lucknow on 2nd and 3rd November 2019. The Conclave was inaugurated by hon’ble Chief
Minister Yogi Aditya Nath and hon’ble Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs
(independent charge) Shri Hardeep Singh Puri. The Conclave was attended by the State
RERAs, Appellate Tribunals, concerned departments of the central and the state
governments, top managements of the financial institutions, competent authorities, home
buyers and their associations, promoters and their associations, lawyers and law firms and
other stakeholders. The top decision makers and the best minds from amongst the
stakeholders had the most meaningful exchange of ideas. One of the highlights of the
conclave was the consensus about the points of amendment in the RERA Act and the IBC
to make them more effective and beneficial for the stakeholders and the sector.