Mumbai: The RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) appellate tribunal will be formed in next two months, confirmed a RERA official. Nineteen months after the implementation of the RERA Act in Maharashtra, the government is yet to form the tribunal, which can be approached if the builders or buyers are not satisfied with the RERA rulings. Currently, people have to move the high court to reaffirm the rulings by the RERA.

“The government is in the process of forming the tribunal, I think it will take another two months for the tribunal to become operational. So by next year, citizens will be able to approach the tribunal to get their issues redressed,” said a senior RERA official.

Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP), a consumer body, had approached chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in November, to ask him to take immediate steps to expedite the formation of the tribunal. According to MGP, delaying the process is causing unnecessary harassment to the citizens. “In the absence of the tribunal, many appeals are already in the queue and those who cannot wait for the tribunal have jumped to the HC,” said Shirish Deshpande, president, MGP.

The formation of the tribunal is compulsory as per section 49 (1) of the RERA Act. “There are problems in the absence of a tribunal, because high court hearings take time and one has to bear higher charges for admitting the case,” said Rahul Mhaske, a developer, owner of Mhaske construction in Pune.

Source: Asian Age