The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) will organise a National Lok Adalat online starting on April 10 to address the disputes between home buyers and developers and reduce the pending cases. This is the first time that a lok adalat is being organised to resolve the issues faced by the real estate sector.
Officials of the UP Rera will hold the lok adalats online from the Lucknow and Greater Noida offices on April 10, July 10, September 11 and December 11.
According to UP Rera officials, there are around 6,500 pending cases. Around 70% of these cases are from Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway and Ghaziabad areas while the remaining are from Lucknow.
Issues like parking space, flat size, flat cost escalation, interest waiver and refund of investment among other issues would be sorted out at the lok adalats, said the officials.
The UP state legal service authority had asked Rera to hold the lok adalats following directions from the National Legal Service Authority headed by the Chief justice of the Supreme Court.
“The homebuyers can file an application on the UP Rera’s portal and get their cases settled. The National Lok Adalat is an effort to provide speedy justice to home buyers. If this initiative runs smoothly, we can organise lok adalats next year too. We want to know how beneficial this exercise is going to be for consumers,” said Anand Shukla, legal advisor to UP Rera and nodal officer of the lok adalat.
The complaints filed under sections 31 and 63 of Rera Act and the cases where a settlement is possible on the basis of reconciliation agreement will be taken up for hearing in the lok adalats.
“Through the lok adalats, homebuyers will get a transparent amicable settlement and speedy disposal of their cases,” said Rajesh Kumar Tyagi, secretary of UP Rera.
The UP Rera will send the link for online hearing of the cases to the complainant buyer and the realtor before the first lok adalat on April 10.
“We hope realtors will take this initiative seriously, join the lok adalat and solve the issues being faced by the home buyers,” said Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension flat owners’ welfare association.
The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) is hopeful of the lok adalats leaving a positive impact. “The cases pending before Rera should be solved via mutual agreement. Realtors should use this opportunity and solve disputes as it will help boost the real estate sector,” said Prashant Tiwari, president of Western UP’s wing of Credai.