Pune: Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) chairman Shirish V Deshpande has said that the conciliation forum set up by MahaRERA is very much within its Act even as an association of homebuyers raised doubts over its legality and sought intervention of the Ministry of housing and Urban Affairs. "MahaRERA Conciliation Forum originates from Sec. 32 (g) of RERA, 2016, which mandates state RERA authorities to recommend to the state govt measures to facilitate amicable conciliation of disputes between promoters and allottees through dispute settlement forum set up by the consumer or promoters association," said Deshpande.
MGP had requested MahaRERA to set up a conciliation forum. The conciliation forum was started only after due deliberations with promoters' association and it was notified on January 29, 2018. The Forum for Peoples' Collective Efforts (FPCE), a nationwide homebuyers' association, had raised concerns over MahaRERA's decision to form a conciliation forum aimed at resolving disputes between homebuyers and builders in Maharashtra.
In a letter addressed to Satinder Pal Singh, additional secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in August, FPCE President Abhay Upadhyay argued that the real estate regulatory authority lacks legal authority to create such a forum, and the move could potentially lead to a "conflict of interest". "Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority has constituted a conciliation forum for amicable settlement of dispute between promoters of real es.