How RTI can get any relief to buyers which have been cheated by Builders? We agree that RTI is powerful tool for seeking information but how can it help us in your fight against builders.
What is your ultimate objective? Your ultimate objective is either to get your money back or to get the house. RTI can be used in two approaches to meet your objective.
First, RTI can be used to pressurize Government Officials to act against builder. If Government Officials is pressurized take action against the builder, the builder will be forced to settle/negotiate with you.
Second, RTI can be used to gather information for your case in Criminal Court, Consumer Court, Government Department or Civil Court. You will need to lot of paper evidence to solidify your case in these forums. RTI can help you collect your paper evidences.
Pressurize Government Official to act against the Builder
If you want to use this approach against the builder, you have to step into shoes of a builder. For any housing project, the builder needs multiple approvals and compliance with multiple Government Departments. If your builder has cheated you, chances are high that he must have cheated Government too. And this is precisely what you have to find out.
Some of the Government Department with which builder interacts are:
Department of Town and Country Planning- Obtains the Licence, Obtains Building Plan Approval, Submits EDC collected from buyers, Submits monthly, annual compliance reports, Financial reports, Compliance of EWS flats.
District Fire Officer- NOC for fire plan.
State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, SEIAA- Environment Clearance
Land Revenue Department- Search report of property, whether land has been mortgaged.
Pollution Control Board- Pollution clearance
Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Airport Authority of India- Permission of Helipad if building height is above 60 metres.
Bank- Tie up report for loan approval (Valuation Report, Search Report (Land title)
Service Tax, Income Tax- Tax compliance
Ministry of Corporate Affairs- Financial statements
If you look into background of owners of even highly reputed real estate companies, you will find that most of them were actually property dealers. Only very few of them have business acumen and respect for law of land. Chances are high that if builder has cheated you, he would have blatantly flouted norms. For example, almost every builder collected money in pre-launch mode during 2009-2013 in Gurgaon, even though it was amply clear in HUDA Act that builder is not only prohibited to collect any money without licence, but also not authorized even to issue advertisement. But no one cared for rules.
So putting pressure through RTI is a two step process. First step is to find out what are violations committed by the builder. Gather some documentary evidence. Second step is to write to Government Authorities to take action against the builder. Few days after writing to Government authorities, send a RTI to seek status of your letter (Sample RTI to seek status of your compliant). Send another Complaint after a month. Send another RTI after few days. Keep creating pressure through complaints and RTI. Keep gathering receipts of all communication.
I am strong believer of “faith in Government”. You might find that nothing happens or works in our country. Nothing happens because you do not act. If you send any complaint to any Government office, it is not a junk paper for them. It is assigned a receipt number. It is marked to someone for action by senior officers. Someone is responsible to act on your complaint. Believe me, however irresponsible any government official might be, but anything on paper forces him to take action. He might take a milder action or find some way out. But it creates pain in his everyday life. Now think, while going through this period of uneasiness, he gets a RTI from you to seek status of action taken. Think again, what happens when he gets another complaint from you after 15 days. Chances are high that he will call up that builder and say SETTLE THIS PERSON. No one likes pain in everyday job.
So summary is, find out violations, send a complaint, seek status of complaint through RTI, send another complaint, seek status of second complaint through RTI and so on.
Gathering evidences through RTI for Criminal Court, Consumer Court
In our legal system (rather every legal system), only paper speaks. As a flat buyer, you will not have much with you except receipts, allotment letter, Builder Buyers Agreement.
Consider this: There is a builder who collected excessive EDC (External Development Charges) from you? EDC is money which Builder collects from you and deposits with the Government. How can you substantiate that you have been cheated? Write a RTI to Town and Country Planning Department seeking details of total EDC, total number of buyers, EDC calculation formula, all installments of EDC deposited by builder along with dates.
Consider next: Builder is refusing to show his Environment Clearance. Write a RTI to SEIAA seeking copy of Environment Clearance for your project.
Or this One: Builder told you that loan for the project is approved by the Bank. Write a RTI to bank seeking details of approval to your project. In fact, builders submit almost all documents to Bank during “Loan Approval Tie Up Arrangement”. This is a good place to collect licence, environment clearance, pollution clearance, building plan approval, search report, land mortgage report etc etc.
Make smart use of RTI to create some pain in everyday life of builder and you might get your money back.
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