Model builder-buyer agreement on cards to solve real estate disputes

The government is setting up a committee to work on a model builder-buyer agreement. This is expected to streamline the homebuying process and protect consumers, according to Consumer Affairs Ministry Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh.

The committee that will draw members from judges, national and state consumer commissions, various consumer bodies, lawyers as well as from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, is expected to be in place within the next three months,, Singh said. The problem (dispute between the home buyers and the developer) could be resolved to quite an extent if the contract between a builder and a buyer is standardised and uniformity is brought about. It should be a unique document applicable across the country, he said.

More than 5.5 lakh cases are pending in various consumer courts of the country… in this 54,000 cases are related to the housing sector.

Home buyers are facing problems like delay in getting possession, compensation for delayed possession, misleading advertisements by builders and not getting facilities as promised