The builder-buyer agreement will work to safeguard homebuyers against potential abuses, lessen disagreements, and give customers access to an efficient grievance redressal procedure.
After the first Round Table Conference on How to Effectively Redress the Grievances Pertaining to the Real Estate Sector, held in Mumbai on Tuesday, Secretary of the Consumer Affairs Ministry Rohit Kumar Singh announced that the government had decided to create a committee to work on a model builder-buyer agreement to streamline the home-buying process and protect homebuyers from potential abuses.
According to him, this agreement might lessen disagreements between homebuyers and builders and guarantee that consumers have access to a grievance redressal process that is efficient, quick, hassle-free, and affordable.
The backlog of cases can be cleared up, homebuyers will be treated properly, and they will be protected from any abuses in the future, he said, by putting in place measures like model buyer-builder agreements and robust grievance redressal processes.
In order to address homebuyers’ complaints and improve consumer protection, he said, a committee will be formed with representatives from the National Consumer Commission, state consumer commissions, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act of 2016 (RERA), Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), and builders.
He responded that they will “try to do it in the next three months” when asked when this committee would be established. Stakeholders must be gathered from various industries. If it is implemented, it will be a historic event since it will at least provide consistency in how this sector is managed throughout the nation. It will serve as a model, he said.
The DCA, in collaboration with the Maharashtra government, organized the roundtable.
He stated that some states already have a model agreement in place and that the Supreme Court (SC) has also mandated that there be one nationwide.
“Each city has its nuances, real estate and housing have their own nuances. Mumbai has redevelopment which most cities do not have. The template/model agreement will be more for the conditions of engagement between the buyer and the seller, but some parts will be different. Many states already have one, but we will look at all and come up with a template,” he said.
“We will develop this document in consultation with all stakeholders. We will maybe, submit it to the Supreme Court and perhaps to the states,” he said
