To resolve homebuyer’s grievances, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) in August last year had directed the developers to set up a “Complaint Redressal Cell” for their respective projects. A review of the directive was done and it was found that only 195 across Maharashtra have set up such a cell and posted the details on their website. To ensure compliance of the directive, MahaRERA has taken cognisance of the same to ensure establishment of “Complaint Redressal Cell” in all the projects.
According to MahaRERA, during the initial phase of home buying, there are multiple avenues from the developer’s end, including the marketing team, to provide project related information either on its website or in person. However, many projects do not specify who a homebuyer should contact if there is any complaint or a challenge after the entire project is sold off. As a result, the flat purchaser faces difficulties in getting their complaints resolved promptly, leading to misunderstandings and grievances even after project’s completion.
This lack of communication has a bearing on the project’s timeline. Considering this fact, MahaRERA expects the developers to set up a "Complaint Redressal Cell" for their respective projects to resolve homebuyers’ grievances. As per the circular, Cell should have at least one Complaint Redressal Officer dedicated towards this work. This person’s name and contact details should be prominently displayed at the project’s site.
It should have at least one Grievance Redressal Officer dedicated to this task, and their name, contact details, at project site should be clearly displayed. Apart from this, MahaRERA has also ensured that this information is readily available on the project’s website.
Dedicated Complaint Redressal Cells will help the complainant to get timely access to official and credible information. Additionally, if the developer puts up details of the total number of complaints received and redressed, the project’s credibility will get elevated.
Setting up of Complaint Redressal Cells is the need of the hour for prompt redressal of homebuyer’s grievances, and to give them the confidence that their investment is protected and secure. This will further elevate the real estate sector’s credibility and MahaRERA is committed towards the same.
“The establishment of trust in the service sector is necessary for the growth of business. So far, the construction sector has only been recognised as a product sector. Now it has started to grow as a service sector. In such a case, it is the need of the hour to have a grievance redressal mechanism in place. MahaRERA has given instructions to establish a grievance redressal cell in every project and has asked the stakeholders to take prompt action to further the sector’s credibility,“ Ajoy Mehta, Chairman, MahaRERA
