Status as on- 08/05/2020
The central and state government have been taking proactive steps to neutralize the possible repercussions of the national wide lockdown. The real estate industry, contributing 7 percent to the GDP and employing 15% of the labor force, has come to a complete standstill. Recently, The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has decided to hear urgent cases.
Introduction
The slowdown through which the Indian Economy was going through amid this nationwide lockdown was seemingly evident. The Indian real estate market is reeling under the COVID-19 impact. However, this situation was about to get worse if the sector-specific countermeasure were not to be implemented sooner. The resumption of construction activities in non-hotspot regions from 15th April came as a breath of fresh air for the sector. This was further reinforced by guidelines from Real Estate Authorities to help developers run their projects with sheer efficacy and minimum health hazards. The MahaRERA took a step further to ensure that the grievances of aggrieved homebuyers are also addressed. The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has decided to hear only urgent cases filed by homebuyers during the extended lockdown until May 17.
Steps taken by Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority
The MahaRERA in view of certain relaxation provided in lockdown 3.0 by the government took certain bold steps. It decided to continue its operations and online delivery of all services including project registrations, project extensions and most importantly filing of complaints. This is done particularly to ensure that the grievances of the aggrieved homebuyers are addressed and relief is provided to them. However, only matters that require immediate attention will be listed following an application from either related parties and urgency of the matter will be decided by the full bench of the authority
Conclusion
Therefore, the above-mentioned decision has ensured that the faith of the homebuyers will remain in the real estate sector. However, the need for adopting a technological shift in terms of dispute redressal is becoming imperative day by day. As we know that the battle against the COVID-19 is going to last for another 10-12 months. Thus, the need to hold hearings through online mode is required. Therefore, the government in consultation with the state authorities should formulate extensive guidelines for the online hearing of complaints.
Disclaimer- The above article is based on the personal interpretation of related laws and judicial pronouncements, which may differ from person to person. The readers are expected to take expert advice before replying to the above article. The author can be reached at support@centrik.in
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