An association representing homebuyers has written to Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee urging her to take necessary steps to make real estate law RERAfunctional in the state within one month.

The Forum For People’sCollective Efforts (FPCE), an umbrella body of homebuyers, has expressed concern over real estate law RERAstill being non-functional in Bengal, leaving buyers at the mercy of the builders.

FPCE president Abhay Upadhyay, who is also a member of central advisory committee, RERA, wrote a letter on August 16 to the chief minister over the long wait for the implementation of The RealEstate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) in Bengal.

In May last year, the Supreme Court had struck down the Bengal government’s law WBHIRA for regulating the real estate sector, saying it was “unconstitutional”.Upadhyay’s letter was also marked to Supreme Court justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who had passed the judgment, and union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep SinghPuri.

After the top court setback, the Bengal housing department on July 26, 2021, notified the rules laying down the legal framework for setting up the Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

However, it is yet to become functional for the want of a chairman and members. Moreover, the formation of the Appellate Tribunal; creation of web pages; and setting up of other infrastructure needed for the early enforcement of RERA has also not been done yet. “I am confident that once the matter is brought to the notice of the chief minister, things will fall in place. The state has done everything to comply with the SC directive. Only the operationalisation of the Authority and Appellate are pending,” Upadhyay said this morning. According to RERA rules, the chairperson and other members of the Authority shall be appointed by the appropriate (state) government.