Supreme Court pushes for standard builder-buyer agreement across India
The apex court said that the builder can put any clause in the agreement which could be detrimental to the home buyer's interest
In order to ensure that homebuyers are protected from realtor friendly purchase agreements, the Supreme Court has sought the central government’s response for a standard pan-India builder-buyer agreement or agent-buyer model agreement, Times Of India reported on Tuesday. The apex court said that the builder can put any clause in the agreement which could be detrimental to the home buyer’s interest, while hearing a bunch of public interest litigations.
It also added that a model builder or an agent-buyer agreement was in the spirit of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) which would go a long way in protecting home buyers against exploitation and harrasment from realtors.
Interest of home buyers should be protected
Representing the petitioners, Menka Gurusamy and Vikas Singh said that state governments are mandated to frame uniform or model builder-buyer agreements under RERA, but most are yet to complete the exercise even after five years of the law came into force.
They also that the centre has an overarching responsibility to ensure that interests of home buyers are protected and hence, it be directed to frame a model agreement that incorporates clauses to force builders to compensate investors in case of delay in delivery of possession of flats, protect customers from getting overcharged under heads like interest and late payment and penalise the builder for deficiency in quality of construction.
Justice D Y Chandrachud recalled his judgement relating to the West Bengal RERA, where the Supreme Court had foiled Trinamool Congress government’s attempt to run a parallel regime, by quashing the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act (WB-HIRA), 2017, as unconstitutional for being in conflict with RERA.
In that Judgement D Y Chandrachud and B V Nagarathna said that if there was no uniformity in the agreement the powerful builders will force the buyers to sign a contract containing clauses which would put home buyers in a position that is utterly vulnerable.