“Let me say, for the record, that matters relating to the real estate sector have been made the subject of this forum, Rera. Prior to Rera, you had the consumer redress mechanism… If I too was an interested party, I would have gone shopping on the forum. I went here, there and then to court. But we resist the temptation to try to solve another forum’s problem through a mechanism,” Puri said addressing the CAC meeting.
His remark came weeks after the consumer affairs ministry led by Pijush Goyal held a meeting with stakeholders to identify the problems faced by consumers in the real estate sector even years after the entry into force of Rera.
Ministries are meant to coordinate with each other and synergize government work, rather than cross-functioning with each other and making their differences public. Such cases do not help the functioning of a government and should be avoided.
According to the ministry, while the number of complaints submitted to consumer commissions has decreased since Rera, still 10% of all complaints with these commissions are related to the real estate sector. THE Ministry of Consumers it also set up a panel to suggest model clauses in the builder-buyer agreement to protect the interests of homebuyers.
Puri said that if consumer forums were that effective, then there would be no need for Rera. You also said that there was a need to see that issues relating to specific sectors were addressed with forums created for a particular purpose and this too by an act of Parliament such as Rera. She added that they won the legal challenge for Rera. “Let’s not try to undermine it now by saying that other forums can do it too. “said the Union Minister.
