Homebuyers’ body FPCE urges PM Modi to restructure RERA as consumer protection
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The Forum for People’s Collective Efforts has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to overhaul the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act. They emphasize the critical need to distinguish consumer protection from the promotion of the real estate sector, citing persistent enforcement challenges. The group reveals that many homebuyers are facing financial losses due to stalled projects.
Nearly a decade after the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) was enacted, pan-India homebuyers’ body Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE) has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restructure the legislation by separating consumer protection from real estate sector promotion, citing persistent enforcement failures and delays in project completion.FPCE has sought the Prime Minister’s intervention to initiate a comprehensive review of RERA’s institutional framework and consider renaming it the Real Estate Homebuyer Protection Act. The organisation has also proposed placing the administration of the law under a consumer-protection ministry instead of the existing framework.
The forum, in a letter last week, said around Rs 12.44 lakh crore of homebuyers’ money, equivalent to about 3.8% of India’s annual GDP, remains trapped in delayed real estate projects, affecting nearly 27.6 lakh families based the government’s own data.
“It is time for zero tolerance towards malpractices in real estate and the duping of homebuyers…The regulatory framework suffers from a structural contradiction as the same authority is entrusted with both promoting the real estate sector and protecting consumers. The promotional priorities could influence enforcement decisions, particularly when regulatory authorities are evaluated on the number of projects registered and sector activity facilitated,” FPCE president Abhay Upadhyay, told ET.
FPCE has alleged that project extensions, originally intended as exceptional relief for developers facing delays, have become routine, often without adequately examining promoter defaults or protecting homebuyers’ interests.
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According to the body, several practices that RERA was intended to prevent continue to affect homebuyers, including diversion of funds, one-sided builder-buyer agreements, delayed possession, unauthorised changes to sanctioned plans, undisclosed charges and handing over apartments without occupancy certificates.
The organisation has also flagged what it describes as systemic enforcement failures, including mechanical registration of projects, repeated extensions without adequate scrutiny, non-execution of refund and compensation orders, inadequate disclosure of project information and allowing repeat defaulting developers to register new projects.
The forum has cited observations by the Supreme Court on the functioning of RERA authorities. It referred to a February 2026 observation by Chief Justice of India in a case involving the State of Himachal Pradesh, expressing concern that the institution was facilitating builders in default rather than providing effective relief to homebuyers.
As part of its proposed restructuring, FPCE has recommended removing the promotion and development mandate from RERA, placing homebuyer protection at the center of the legislation, ensuring administrative oversight by a consumer-protection ministry and introducing an accountability framework for regulatory authorities.
The homebuyers’ body is of the view that amendments to existing provisions alone would not address the problem unless institutional responsibilities and enforcement mechanisms were restructured. It has urged the government to examine its submission, communicate its observations and prepare a time-bound action plan.
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Figures reflect the source report and its stated period. This article is for information and is not investment advice.
