After the implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, for speedy hearing of complaints of home buyers and mutual resolution of disputes in RERA, a Conciliation Forum has been established in the Regional Office, Greater Noida, by the Regulatory Authority, with the help of which a settlement is reached between the promoter and the allottees through mediation meetings which are organized to resolve disputes.
Many of the complaints registered in RERA include non-availability of possession/possession from the allottees and delays, demand and calculation of interest for the delayed period, verification and re-calculation of the charges paid by the promoter in the final demand amount, adjustment of amount with interest on delay period, determination of parking space, maintenance charges from due date etc making the Conciliation Forum a priority for home buyers and promoters both for the resolution in minimum time for the disputes.
In order to find a suitable solution, UP RERA established a comprehensive Conciliation Forum system that involves gathering the promoter and the home buyer at a single table and having a detailed discussion after hearing each party’s point of view. Participating in the process are representatives of home buyers’ associations like NEFOMA and NEFOWA as well as promoters’ associations like CREDAI NCR and CREDAI Western UP. Through fostering mutual coordination between the two parties, the unions attempt to find a definitive solution. Aside from this, mutual discussion on reasonable and unreasonable demands made by the unions through their representatives drafts the background of logical agreement.
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In this manner, the association of allottees and promoters works together to resolve disputes between home buyers and promoters through the UPRERA Conciliation Forum. The parties’ mutually accepted agreements made in the Conciliation Forum are automatically upheld, and the beneficiaries don’t need to go through any additional steps to put the compromise settlement into effect.
Based on data obtained from UPRERA, between February 2019 (the start date) and December 2023, over 1350 cases of this type were settled amicably by mutual consent at the NCR Conciliation Forum. As a result, assets valued at around Rs 550 crore were declared dispute-free. The recent history of peaceful dispute resolution has increased the usefulness of the Conciliation Forum. In such a situation, more and more promoters and home buyers can make more use of the Conciliation Forum to get quick and amicable resolution of their disputes, which will also be useful in the healthy development of the real estate sector in Uttar Pradesh.
Commenting on the same, Dinesh Gupta, Secretary of CREDAI Western UP, said, “We have been successful in resolving almost 90% -95% of the cases filed in the UP RERA Conciliation Forum by our CREDAI Members and RERA officials along with the representatives of home buyers. This is the result of cumulative efforts of each stakeholder associated with the real estate sector over the last few years. Many times we realized that due to lack of two-way communication and interaction, matters come to complete disagreement. But in the Conciliation Forum, each party gets sufficient time to explain their concern which is observed and analyzed by RERA Conciliator, representatives of home buyers and builders. Finally, it removes misconceptions of parties about each other and during the course we resolve the matter with consensus which is accepted by both parties.”
“It saves costly time for all participants and further litigation. We appreciate the initiative of the UP RERA and valuable cooperation of the homeowners association and their representatives and also our member developers who participate in the forum. On the same line, we have formed a reconciliation committee with GNIDA and also trying to do it with the NOIDA Authority,” he added.
The Conciliation Forum is the first option that the complainant is presented with in the recently-released UP RERA’ SOP for filing complaints. This demonstrates the Conciliation Forum’s legitimacy and its commitment to resolving disputes quickly.
