UP Rera starts pre-hearing scrutiny of complaints to help homebuyers

The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP RERA) on Monday started pre-hearing scrutiny of complaints, in a move aimed at quick disposal of cases.

UP RERA has an e-courts system for filing of complaints by the homebuyers and the promoters. It issued revised standard operating procedures (SOP) on December 2, 2023 for filing, scrutiny and hearing of complaints and conciliation.

In doing so, UP RERA not only simplified the process of filing of complaints, but made it more comprehensive also, it said in a statement.

"Now the process has become more user-friendly and will be conducive to early listing and speedy disposal of complaints. This facility is available from Monday (January 15, 2024) on UP RERA portal," the regulatory authority said.

Explaining the process, it said the legal division of UP RERA will scrutinize the new complaint and its attachments to ascertain that the particulars of the complainant, the promoter or the respondent and the project are correct and as per the entries in the builder-buyer agreement (BBA) or allotment letter.

It will also check if the consumer has submitted the self-attested legible copies of all relevant documents such as the booking application, the allotment letter, the BBA, the receipts of payment or the bank statements or the account ledger issued by the promoter.

The consumer has to deposit the self-attested copies of the loan sanction letter from the bank. RERA will ascertain that the particulars of deposit of the money are in conformity with the supporting documents, according to the statement.

"RERA office will scrutinize the complaint and communicate its objections to the complainant within seven days which need to be rectified within fifteen days. A reminder will be sent to the complainant after fifteen days for rectification of pending objections within another seven days," UP RERA said.

"After the rectification of the objections, the legal division of RERA will mark the complaint file as 'Fit-For Hearing' and forward the same to the concerned Bench for hearing," it said.

In case the complainant does not rectify the effects even after reminder, the legal office will forward the complaint file for hearing before the Bench with the particulars of the pending defects. In such an eventuality, the complainant may miss the chance of speedy redressal of his grievance, it added.

UP RERA Chairman Sanjay Bhoosreddy, said the new arrangement for scrutiny of complaints will be of great help to the consumers who can now file complaints with RERA even without depending upon professionals.

He said once the complaints are registered with all relevant documents and after rectification of defects, the complainant will not have to spend his time and energy again and again for rectification of defects and submission of documents at a later stage.

"The move is designed to also help the Benches in quick disposal of cases and imparting speedy justice to the consumers," Bhoosreddy said.

The UP RERA Chairman called upon all the consumers and other stakeholders to refer to this new SOP on the website of UP RERA while filing their complaints and its supporting documents.

"This SOP is for their benefit and for effective protection of their interest," he added.