New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s observation last month that Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERAs)—which were set up to regulate the real estate sector and ensure speedy disposal of disputes related to such cases—have become a “rehabilitation centre for retired bureaucrats” might not be off the mark.
An analysis of the information available on the RERA websites show that of the 32 states and Union Territories (UTs) which have set up RERAs, at least 25 are headed by former bureaucrats, including 22 retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers.
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act was passed by the Parliament in 2016. Since its inception in 2017, nearly half a dozen former chief secretaries of states and UTs have been given the post of chairperson in RERAs in states including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Assam, among others.
Recently, former Maharashtra Chief Secretary Manoj Saunik took charge as the state RERA chairman. A retired IAS officer of the 1987 batch, Saunik took over from another former chief secretary Ajoy Mehta to head the authority in September. Maharashtra happens to have the highest number of real estate projects registered in the country, since the Act’s inception in 2017.
Maharashtra is not an isolated case. The trend prevails across the country to appoint former bureaucrats as chairpersons and members of RERAs, which have been set up under the 2016 Act.
So far, of the 36 states and UTs, as many as 32 have set up 33 RERAs (Haryana has separate RERAs for Gurugram and the rest of the state). Four states and UTs (Ladakh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim) have not set up a RERA yet.
Besides heading RERA, a majority of retired IAS officers are also appointed as members, according to the analysis of publicly available data.
The Act mandates the authority to have a chairperson and “not less than two whole time members”. They will be appointed by the state governments based on the recommendation of a selection committee consisting of the Chief Justice of the High Court or their nominee and others.
For instance, RERAs in Haryana (Gurugram), Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Karnataka, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh, among others, have retired IAS officers, including former chief secretaries (Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Assam), as chairpersons.
The functioning of RERAs has come under sharp criticism from the Supreme Court as homebuyers continue to approach higher judiciary for dispute redressal.
A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan recently said that RERAs have become a “rehabilitation centre” for former bureaucrats who have “frustrated the “entire scheme of the Act”, while expressing displeasure over the functioning of the authorities.
The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by homebuyers against a Delhi High Court judgment that dismissed pleas seeking directions to banks to refrain from charging pre-EMIs or full EMIs, according to media reports.
The court’s remark has got a mixed response from stakeholders and experts, including former judges and bureaucrats. While former bureaucrats point at the lacunae in the law, which has led to RERAs being a “toothless regulatory body”, others agree with the court’s comment on former bureaucrats doing little to address the problems faced by homebuyers.
“The biggest problem is the Act, which doesn’t provide for an effective mechanism to enforce the orders passed by the authority; it is a toothless tiger. However, the court’s comment is partly correct, as a lot of bureaucrats, especially from Indian Forest Service (IFoS) and Indian Revenue Service (IRS), don’t have the technical and legal knowledge required for addressing real estate related matters,” Rajender Kumar, who heads the RERA adjudicating office (who decides on compensation and other issues) at Haryana RERA-Gurugram, told ThePrint.
Balvinder Kumar, a 1981-batch IAS from Uttar Pradesh Cadre, who was member of the Uttar Pradesh RERA till January last year, also believes that the problem is with the Act.
“The problem is with the Act; RERAs don’t have the powers to get them implemented. The development authorities and police often don’t implement orders passed by RERA. If former senior bureaucrats can’t get the orders implemented, do you think these agencies will listen to a private individual if he/she heads RERA? Former bureaucrats are able to get a lot of work done because of their seniority,” Balvinder told ThePrint.
Also Read: Master Plan for Delhi-2041 hanging fire for over 4 yrs, housing minister cites technical issues
RERA members include ex-coast guard & police, media
ThePrint analysed the information available for 28 RERAs in the public domain. In a majority of the states and UTs, the authorities are headed by IAS officers, including former chief secretaries. A cursory assessment of the information indicates that nearly 70-80 percent of the members are also former bureaucrats and judicial officials.
For instance, Madhya Pradesh RERA is headed by retired IAS officer A.P. Srivastava, and has two former bureaucrats (IFoS and IAS) and a former judicial officer as members.
In Uttar Pradesh, former state chief secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy is currently the chairman of UPRERA. The authority was previously headed by another former state chief secretary Rajive Kumar and had Balvinder Kumar, who was former mines secretary in the central government, as a member.
Paban Kumar Borthakur, former chief secretary of Assam, is now heading the state’s real estate authority.
While a majority of RERAs are headed by former IAS officials, Odisha, Punjab, Haryana-Panchkula and Mizoram are a few exceptions.
In Odisha, the authority is headed by former IFoS officer Siddhanta Das. Retired IRS officials Rakesh Kumar Goyal and Parneet Singh Sachdev are heading RERAs in Punjab and Haryana-Panchkula, respectively. In Mizoram, the authority is headed by a serving state service official, according to a senior state government official.
Referring to the appointment of IRS, IFoS, and police officials as members or chairpersons, activist Abhay Upadhyay, national convenor Fight for RERA (a campaign for the rights of homebuyers), told ThePrint that the Supreme Court is right in its observation.
“The SC is absolutely right; there are major deficiencies in the functioning of RERAs. A lot of them lack legal knowledge and understanding about real estate-related laws and norms. It often happens that there is a mismatch between the information put up by the builder or developers on their portal and submitted to RERA, but most authorities have failed to take action,” said Upadhyay, who is also the president of Forum For People’s Collective Efforts, a Kolkata-based non-profit organisation which aims to serve as a watchdog with regard to policies and regulations impacting consumers, particularly homebuyers.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
Also Read: Changes to law for greenfield development in Delhi stalled for 2 yrs, unlikely in winter session too
Officers from all India cadres appointed through UPSC mist be prohibited by law from holding any post-retirement positions.
This pernicious practice simply results in quid pro quo deals favouring all sorts of criminal activities.