Karnataka Home Buyers Forum write to PM to strengthen RERA

Ahna Prakash | NT

Bengaluru

Karnataka Home Buyers Forum submitted a letter to the Prime Minister seeking help for the registration of home buyers’ apartment associations and strengthening Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in Karnataka. The home buyers explained the challenges faced by them due to the absence of a regulatory body for apartment owners association. 

Karnataka Home Buyers Forum Sanchalak Dhananjaya Padmanabhachar also wants RERA to be brought under the state government’s Sakala Mission and to increase the penalty from Rs 20 to Rs 100 if the government officials don’t deliver services to the public on time as per Sakala Guidelines.

“We have an RTI response from the Sub Registrar office, Govt of Karnataka where they clearly mention they don't have the notifications from the government of Karnataka to declare them as the competent authority to register apartment owners association. In Karnataka, the apartment owners welfare associations are not legally registered, though the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act 1972 declare Registrar of Co-Operative Society as the competent authority, the builders are not registering the associations under the correct act. RERA also recommends the apartment owners associations need to be registered under Karnataka Co-Operative Societies Act or Company Act. We request the government to act towards this to protect the interest of home buyers rights in apartments.” said Padmanabhachar.

The letter to the PM also highlighted that the basic protection that the lawmakers have provided for home buyers is being ignored.

“A glaring example is, the competent authority as per Sec 3(h) (i) of the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act 1972 (KAOA) is “Registrar of Cooperative Societies”, but when home buyers/flat owners approach them for grievance redressal, they decline to address home buyers concerns saying they don’t have jurisdiction to address the complaints as authority has not been so given by the government of Karnataka!!,” said the letter.

BJP National Secretary BL Santosh has said that the government is looking into the issue and will speak to the officials concerned to help home buyers.

Retired Admiral Sudhir Pillai from Karnataka Home Buyers Forum also attended the discussion on the issue and highlighted that the government must ensure RERA Act is implemented in Karnataka in its true sense and apartment owners association needs to be brought under the regulations of the government under Registrar of Cooperative Society.