RERA’s Promise vs. Ground Reality: The Growing Crisis of Delayed Justice in Haryana

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 was enacted with a clear mandate:
protect homebuyers and ensure time-bound resolution of disputes. For lakhs of consumers, RERA represented hope — a stronger, more accountable alternative to the traditional litigation system.

However, the experience of many homebuyers in Haryana, especially before Gurgaon RERA, tells a very different story. Despite modern offices, digital systems, and formal procedures, the actual delivery of justice remains painfully slow, complex, and often ineffective.

A System That Looks Efficient From the Outside — But Fails on the Inside

RERA buildings and websites look polished, but for the common consumer, the system is intimidating, procedural, and inaccessible. Instead of enabling quick redressal, many consumers feel trapped in a tiring, technical, and poorly enforced process.

1. The Complaint Filing Process: Tough and Technical for Ordinary Consumers

While RERA was meant to be a simple, citizen-friendly grievance platform, the reality is far from that.

Consumers face several hurdles:

Complicated online filing requiring technical knowledge, document formatting, and precise drafting
High Fee
Not allowing joint complaints
Legal-style drafting requirements that push most consumers to hire lawyers
Errors leading to rejections or filing delays

For many homebuyers, filing a RERA complaint has become a technical maze, discouraging those who cannot afford legal support.

2. Endless Adjournments: The Core Problem

Across multiple cases tracked by PRAN, the same cycle repeats:

Builders do not appear or fail to file replies on time.
RERA repeatedly grants adjournments, often without consequences.
Consumers bear the financial and emotional burden — EMIs, rent, legal fees, and mental stress.
Cases drag on for months or even years, defeating the Act’s purpose of time-bound resolution.

This pattern has become so routine that consumers no longer expect quick outcomes.

3. Even After Winning the Case, the Struggle Continues: Execution Delays

Perhaps the most troubling issue is that even a favourable RERA order does not guarantee relief.

Execution of orders — including refunds, interest payments, possession directions, or compensation — has become a second battle, often more difficult than the original case.

Key challenges in execution:

Builders ignore compliance notices
Long gaps between execution hearings
Repeated adjournments, even at the enforcement stage
Minimal use of powers like property attachment or freezing bank accounts
Consumers made to run from pillar to post between RERA, collector offices, and builder representatives

A process meant to implement justice ends up creating a new layer of delay, leaving homebuyers exhausted and financially drained.

4. A White Elephant in the Making

When authorities meant to safeguard consumers function as date-issuing offices, they risk becoming white elephants — expensive to maintain, impressive to look at, but ineffective in delivering justice.

A regulatory system that tolerates non-compliance ultimately encourages it.

5. The Law Has Strong Enforcement Powers — But They Are Barely Used

RERA authorities can:

Impose penalties for non-appearance
Fine builders for delayed replies
Take suo motu action
Attach property, freeze bank accounts, and enforce recovery
Ensure expeditious disposal as per statutory timelines

Yet these powers remain underutilized, weakening the effectiveness of the system.

6. The Impact on Consumers: Severe and Long-Lasting

Double burden: EMI + rent
Depletion of savings due to legal and follow-up costs
Mental stress and uncertainty
Loss of trust in regulatory institutions
Delays that ultimately favour the builder

The compliant party suffers, while the defaulter gains time and leverage.

7. What Must Change: PRAN’s Recommendations

To restore trust and effectiveness, RERA must undertake urgent reforms:

A. Simplify the complaint filing process

Helpdesks, guided filing, and user-friendly forms.

B. No adjournments without penalties

Builder defaults must carry direct consequences.

C. Enforce strict timelines

Statutory timelines should not be optional.

D. Fast-track execution benches

Execution should not become a second litigation.

E. Invoke enforcement powers more aggressively

Attachment, recovery, and penalties must be used.

F. Increased transparency

Public dashboards showing adjournments, delays, and execution status.

A Call to Action

RERA was created to bring transparency, accountability, and fairness to the real estate sector. Its foundation remains strong, but its implementation needs urgent reform.

PRAN calls upon:

Homebuyer associations
Civil society groups
Legal experts
Policy institutions
Government authorities

to push for a RERA that truly protects consumers and delivers justice without delay.

Contact PRAN (Public Right Action Network)

📍 Website: www.publicrightaction.in
📌 Twitter/X: @PRAN_India
📌 Facebook: /PublicRightAction
📌 LinkedIn: Public Right Action Network

PRAN welcomes consumer experiences, case studies, and suggestions to strengthen accountability in real estate regulations.