On Saturday, a homebuyer filed a complaint with the Karnataka Lokayukta, accusing the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretary of the Housing Department, as well as the Secretary of the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) of neglecting their duties.
Shailesh Charati, a member of the Karnataka Home Buyers Forum and Bangalore City Flat Owners’ Welfare Association, filed the complaint as a homebuyer.
Shailesh Charati filed the complaint due to his dissatisfaction with the decision made by K-RERA in complaint CMP/210402/0007857 against M/S Arya Gruha Pvt. Ltd. He had previously complained to the Housing Department about this matter. According to Charati, K-RERA had disregarded the records available to them and passed an order that violated the RERA Act rules, ultimately defeating the purpose of the Act. He requested an investigation into these allegations.
According to Dhananjaya Padmanabhachar, who is the Sanchalak of the Karnataka Home Buyers Forum, the ineffectiveness of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) for homebuyers can be attributed to the Chairman's incompetence. He alleged that the Chairman issued orders containing false information, which deprived homebuyers of their rights.
Padmanabhachar stated that the present Chairman, Kishore Chandra, made an erroneous ruling in his case by stating that it had been resolved between the parties, despite the fact that the case was ongoing with the developer in a separate court outside of RERA. He referred to such orders as fraudulent and advocated for the Chairman to be held accountable under the law. He had filed a complaint with the Karnataka Lokayukta a few months ago, but the Lokayukta closed the case, stating that they lacked the authority to investigate the RERA Chairman.
In accordance with Section 87 of the RERA Act, Padmanabhachar claimed that the Chairman falls under the category of "public servant". Therefore, he lodged a complaint against the RERA Chairman with the Housing Secretary and was anticipating what steps would be taken against the Chairman for issuing inaccurate orders.
Padmanabhachar claimed that while RERA Karnataka was established to assist homebuyers, it has failed to do so by issuing incorrect orders. Furthermore, even after reporting these wrong orders, they have not been rectified in accordance with Section 39 of the RERA Act. He believes that the Housing Secretary should thoroughly investigate RERA's operations and improper orders to ensure justice for homebuyers. Otherwise, he intends to file a complaint against the Housing Secretary with the Karnataka Lokayukta for negligence in their duties.
Shailesh Charati has reportedly obtained an RTI response from the Housing Department regarding the complaints lodged against the Chairman and members of RERA. According to the response, the Housing Department has not prepared preliminary reports for any of the complaints except one. Another complainant, Ameya Usagaonkar, wrote to the Housing Department on October 13, 2022, but has not received a preliminary report on the matter, as stated by Charati.
Ameya expressed his disappointment with K-RERA, stating that he has not witnessed the organization working towards the betterment of homebuyers. He further remarked that K-RERA is not functioning on par with other RERAs in different states.
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