In a first, Centre to discuss consumer grievances pertaining to real estate sector in Mumbai tomorrow

New Delhi [India], April 17 : The central government will hold a roundtable conference on how to redress grievances pertaining to the real estate sector in Mumbai on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, the department of consumer affairs is organising a round table conference on "How to effectively redress the grievances pertaining to real estate sector" in Mumbai on Tuesday. The conference will be organised in association with the Maharashtra government.
Pertinently, real estate cases comprise around 10 per cent of the total cases in Consumer Commissions. So far, since inception, 2,30,517 cases have been filed by the consumers in various consumer commissions, 1,76,895 cases have been disposed of till now and 53,622 cases are pending, according to the ministry.
Despite separate tribunals such as Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to deal with the cases pertaining to housing sector, the pendency of cases is rising in various consumer commissions.
It is for the first time, the department is conducting such a large-scale conference to redress the consumer grievance in real estate sector, according to the statement.
Some key areas that will be covered in the conference will be systemic policy interventions required to reduce litigation in the housing sector. In this regard, the cases filed in the Consumer Commissions would be analysed and major factors that result in consumer cases will be identified and presented for deliberations, according to the ministry.
In addition, why more number of cases are filed before Consumer Commissions despite there being separate authority such as RERA for specifically dealing the cases pertaining to the housing sector will also be discussed. Meanwhile, deliberation on how to ensure that the sector cases are dealt in an effective and speedy manner will also be done.
The disposal of pending cases through the National Lok Adalat held on November 12, 2022, and "Grahak Madhyasthata Samadhan" on December 16, 2022, by the states/district consumer commissions reported exemplary outcome. Also, the department earlier organised a roundtable conference on consumer and the insurance sector to facilitate stakeholder consultation on insurance cases in consumer commissions.
The Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, will chair the conference. Members of National Commission, presidents of State Commissions of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Gujarat, president of the RERA Appellate Tribunal Maharashtra, RERA Chairmen from Delhi and Maharashtra, Presidents of District Commissions of Delhi, Bengaluru, Thane, Pune, Raigad, and Chandigarh, and others
There will be representatives from the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MOHUA), RERA, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), government of Maharashtra, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and all the builders' fraternity are also likely to participate in the conference.
The department of consumer affairs is continuously working towards reducing the pendency of cases in the Consumer Commissions so as to protect the interest of the consumers and reach the goal set by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, according to the ministry's statement. In respect of this department organised many campaigns to reduce the pendency in the consumer commissions and have addressed the issue multiple times.