Filing a Complaint under Section 31 of RERA Act: Your Legal Rights as a Home Buyer

Real Estate and Property Law RERA REAT Real Estate Regulatory Authority Law Date: 11 Apr 2024

I am Aditya Pratap, Advocate of Bombay High Courts and Founder of Aditya Pratap Law Offices. I am going to speak on a very simple topic which is the filing of a complaint against a developer u/s 31 of the Real Estate Regulation Act.

 The Real Estate Regulation Act was passed in the year 2016, it was a landmark consumer protection for flat buyers and the real estate sector. Under RERA, any flat buyer who books or purchases in a real-estate project can be protected under the Real-estate Act. 

The act creates a real- estate authority or RERA which is in charge of ensuring that all projects registered with it and also vested with the responsibility and duties of dispensing justice to the allottees in need. The RERA also has regulatory oversight of the real- estate sector, and it ensures that the developers adhere to the project plans and specifications and that they also, complete and finish the project and deliver the flat on or before the prescribed date of possession. 

Sec 31 of the RERA Act lays down the legal framework and mechanism for filing a complaint by a flat buyer against a developer under the RERA Act. Complaints can even be filed against the real- estate brokers if they violate the act's provisions. Complaints can be filed against a developer for various reasons. The causes and reasons for filing a complaint could include 

1. Delay in possession of a project.
2. Failure to adhere to the prescribed plans and specifications
3. Malpractices filed by the builder such as violating the terms of the contract or trying to accept cash payment and not giving receipts etc.

The objective of section 31 is that if any violations of the act are committed by a developer, real estate broker, or any other functionary in the real estate ecosystem, who comes within the purview of the RERA act , then the aggrieved flat buyer or home buyer will have the legal remedy of filing a complaint and seeking justice with the RERA and as well as the adjudicating officer who is vested with the tasks and responsibilities of hearing and deciding complaints filed under section 31 of the RERA Act.