Conciliation Forum: Quick Alternative to Dispute Settlement

No reasonable person likes to get into unnecessary disputes. This is true everywhere, and in real estate industry, disputes are common no matter how reasonable you are. This industry despite being so huge, and crucial to the Indian economy didn’t have any proper dispute resolving mechanism.

Any slight disagreement could lead various parties to get into some conflict which further led to unlawful activities because there was no system to define the common ground for them. Therefore, RERA (Real Estate Regulation and Development Act) came in picture. RERA took this into consideration and introduced the concept of Conciliation Forum. Let’ go deeper.

Though RERA provides a dispute redressal mechanism for aggrieved parties through the courts, it offers a compromise solution too. They need not go to court on the off chance that the two parties can come to a shared agreement.

The Maharashtra RERA has been valued for its quick treatment of home-buyers’ grievances. It is also the first state which established the conciliation forum under the Act. For instance, MahaRERA has received 16,002 complaints, 10,548 out of which have been passed for appropriate orders, while the remaining ones are at various stages of hearing.

According to the official statistics on MahaRERA website, the forum has received 792 complaints, and in 714 consent terms have been signed, while 78 matters are currently being heard. Following the forum’s success in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh has also established multiple conciliation forums.

Technicality

Section 32 (g) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016, provides for measures to be taken by the authority to facilitate amicable conciliation of disputes between the promoters and the allottees through dispute settlement forums comprising of representatives from consumers and promoters’ associations.

Riding on the rate of success conciliation meetings is bringing more and more homebuyers and developers to the negotiation table instead of initiating formal legal proceedings before the RERA Bench. All types of complaints—related to a refund, compensation, or possession—are being filed with conciliation forums.

Meetings organized by the forums have representatives from the homebuyers’ association, developer associations such as Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) and National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), the builder, the buyer or his representative and a RERA officer or the conciliator.

Why Conciliation Forums Are Important?

Why go to court when you can go for common agreement” is the essential guideline behind the foundation of a formalized Conciliation Forum? Let’s go through the importance of it now:

RERA mandates that any complaint filed by either the promoter or allottee should be disposed within 60 days of filing them. With the conciliation forum in place, complaints have been resolved more quickly than through the authority. It also saves on the cost and time involved in litigation
It saves on the cost and time involved in litigation.
Conciliation process can be terminated if a settlement is not reached, and the complainants are always at liberty to pursue the case through RERA or before any court.
If after signing the consent agreement, one of the parties faulters at complying with the agreed terms, it will be considered as a breach of the respective state’s RERA order and would be dealt with accordingly while passing a judgement later.

Why Should the Buyer & Promoter Care?

RERA empowers any homebuyer to file a complaint against any RERA registered developer or real estate agent if they don’t fulfil their commitments. With conciliation forums in picture, buyers don’t have to worry about court hearings and legal proceedings.

Plus, going by the court may also lead to delay in possession, changes in construction plans, additional charges or lack of facilities promised, including parking space, storage space or elevator in an amicable manner.

Furthermore, the forum also provides a platform for developers to share their concerns such as funding issues, land disputes, authority related disputes, court-stays etcetera. The builder/promoter can share his/her challenges which led to the buyer to register the complaint and arrive at a solution in presence of the conciliator which is acceptable to both the parties.

The builder or developer also get to mention the reasons that led the buyer to register a complaint along with reaching on mutually agreed solution. Plus, such one on one discussion with buyer helps the developer to get proper understanding of the shortcomings from their end that brings buyers at such spot which is something they can use to rectify and strengthen their systems to avoid any future conflicts.

To Summarize

Conciliation forums are a good and efficient alternative to resolve disputes between buyers and promoters. In a country like India where population is huge and everything else is huge in numbers, speedy solutions are a necessity to ensure solutions to all. That’s’ why the concept of conciliation forum is an effective addition to the Act of 2016.

Under this forum, the aggrieved parties can get their grievances solved before filing a complaint with the RERA authority and reach to an amicable settlement of disputes. It also saves time and resources for both the parties and provides scope for cases that need proper legal proceedings to reach the court on time.

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Conciliation forums empower the home buyers, but the real empowerment comes from information. With right knowledge, such case won’t even arrive. With knowledge and proper information, you’ll always make the right choices. Stay informed with us!