In a move to encourage homebuyers to take on errant builders, the government has been urged to declare March 10 as Homebuyers' Day as on this date the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill was passed in Rajya Sabha in 2016.
The letter requesting declaration of the day to highlight the empowerment of homebuyers has been written to Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu by Fight for RERA, a body representing aggrieved homebuyers.
The government has also been urged to announce awards to be presented on the declared day every year by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) for such homebuyers or group representing flat owners that have taken forward the agenda of fulfilling aggrieved homebuyers' aspirations.
In the letter, which was written on February 27 and marked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Fight for RERA's national convenor Abhay Upadhyay said, "This is the first time that citizens have played a major role not only in preparation of the legislation but also in its passage in the Parliament."
"The Fight for RERA movement received voluntary support people across the country who sacrificed their personal interest and joined hands putting their own personal resources in terms of time and money to ensure that the Bill becomes an Act," Upadhyay said. Calling upon need to empower homebuyers, Upadhyay told Millennium Post that fighting against real estate mafias is not an easy nut to crack as homebuyers has to run from pillar to post for the justice.
"There are several cases of homebuyers succumbing to the apathy of builders and finally losing their fight. The declaration of a day will motivate buyers to fight for their rights as success stories would encourage even those homebuyers who have lost their hope in the system," he said.
"Declaration of the day would also help in creating awareness among masses about their rights. It would also help in bringing different stakeholders on one single platform that will help in making system more transparent," he said.