The RERA act and the subsequent rules were made to bring relief to home buyers and more importantly bring in transparency & accountability in the real estate sector. Here is a review of some of the important orders made by RERAs in different states. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (commonly known as the RERA Act) was passed in 2016 to bring in transparency and accountability in the real estate sector by creating a mechanism to address issues such as delay in project completion and delivery, full disclosure of all the details, and grievance redressal by safeguarding the interests of buyers as well as the developers. Factly had earlier published an explainer on the rights of homebuyers under the RERA Act. In this story, we look at some of the important rulings of the various state Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERA) across the country. 34 States/UTs have notified rules under RERA According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 34 States/UTs have notified rules under RERA as of 09 January 2021. Nagaland is under process to notify rules while West Bengal has enacted its own legislation which has been challenged before the Supreme Court. A total of 30 States/UTs have established the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. More than 60,000 cases have been disposed since RERA was enacted A total of 59,621 Real Estate Projects and 46,276 Real Estate Agents were registered under RERA across the country as on 09 January 2021, since RERA came into force. Compared to 11 January 2020, the number of registered projects and agents have both increased by over 21% in almost a year. Over 19,171 cases have been disposed of in the past year. At the same time, more than sixty thousand cases have been disposed of so far. Uttar Pradesh contributed to over 40% of these cases followed by Haryana contributing to more than 20%. Haryana has two Regulatory Authorities. One has been set up in Gurugram to deal with the issues there and the other is set up at Panchkula to cover the rest of Haryana. Any aggrieved person can make a complaint to the State RERA in case of violations Any aggrieved person, (a buyer, agent, or developer) may file a complaint with the respective State RERA if there is a violation of the provisions of the respective act or the rules. In this story, some key issues such as possession delays, the jurisdiction of RERA, the constitutional validity of provisions, and others are discussed through relevant case laws. Jurisdiction of RERA was clarified by Punjab RERA In Bikramjit Singh Vs, M/s HP Singh, the Punjab RERA held that RERA does not extend to projects whose application has been rejected by the authority. Further, it was also stated that complaints against projects not registered with RERA will not be entertained by the authority. In this judgement, the authority also clarified the maintainability of a complaint in those cases where the violations occurred before the act was enforced. It was stated that such complaints would be entertained only if three conditions were fulfilled- Cases pending or ongoing with other tribunals will not be entertained by RERA The authority in Gurugram, Haryana in Sh. Sukhbir Singh Grewal Vs. M/s MVL Ltd, reiterated that it will not entertain any case which is already pending in another tribunal or court. In this particular case, the buyer had filed a case against the builder for delay in giving possession of property beyond the date mentioned in the agreement. The builder submitted that the delay was a result of the interim order passed by SEBI. The builder had moved the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) challenging SEBI’s decision. RERA stated that ‘As the matter is already with the SEBI/SAT, accordingly there is no case left for the present before this authority and to continue further proceedings in the matter. Let the issue be decided by the SEBI/SAT. Once the SAT set aside the order of the SEBI then the only allottee may come to us for proceedings under the RERA Act.’ Delay in possession involves refund of payment and interest In Sukhbir Singh Vs MVL Ltd., the complaint was lodged against the builder due to delay in giving possession of the property. In that case, RERA also added that the remedy according to them would have been the refund of money paid by the complainant along with interest as per the prescribed rate. However, the matter was being dealt with by SEBI and SAT. Delay in delivery of the project has also been addressed in Avinash Saraf Vs. Runwal Homes Pvt Ltd by the Maharashtra RERA. In Avinash Saraf Vs, Runwal Homes Pvt Ltd., the complainants asserted that they had paid 97% of the total consideration of the flat. The agreement stated that the flat would be handed over by August 2016.