Govt planning to set up panel to work on model builder-buyer agreement

A senior government official announced on April 18, 2023, that the government has chosen to form a commission to work on a model buyer agreement to assist in streamlining the home-buying process and safeguard customers from potential abuses, among other things. According to Consumer Affairs Ministry Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, the committee, which will include representatives from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and judges, national and state consumer commissions, various consumer organisations, and attorneys, is anticipated to be in place within the next three months. The official earlier addressed a round table conference on 'How to Effectively Redress the Grievances Pertaining to Real Estate Sector', in the city, hosted by the Department of Consumer Affairs, in association with the government of Maharashtra. The problem (dispute between the home buyers and the developer) could be resolved quite to an extent if the contract between a builder and a buyer is standardised and uniformity is brought about. Singh said that it should be a unique document, applicable across the country, then maybe it can solve the problem to some extent. So they had decided to form a committee and a model agreement document between the buyer and the seller, who is the builder. They would develop this model agreement, in consultation with all stakeholders (and) then would submit it to the Supreme Court and send it to all the states. He said that the Supreme Court also has a directive that there should be a model agreement for across the country and added that some states already have such a document in place. Over 5.5 lakh complaints are currently outstanding in the nation's consumer courts, with over 54,000 of those claims being specifically related to the housing industry, according to Singh. According to the ministry, the backlog of cases emphasises the value of swift justice and expediting the procedure for homebuyers. The main issues for homebuyers were identified as being the delay in giving them possession of the property, the lack of compensation for this delay, biased, unfair builder-buyer agreements, amenities not being provided in accordance with the agreements, and deceptive advertising by developers and influencers to attract buyers. On Wednesday, April 19, the consumer affairs department will meet in Mumbai with the top 50 influencers to discuss the problem of deceptive advertising, according to Singh. Some of the key recommendations made during the conference, according to the ministry, included sending the draught agreement to buyers before execution, clearly mentioning permissions and sanctions obtained from competent authorities on the first page of the agreement, and prohibiting builders from launching projects before obtaining all required permissions and sanctions. Also Read Manipur Convention Center PMC services submitted through a tenderCentre to discuss ways to redress consumer grievances in real estate