Evaluate the effectiveness of RERA in protecting homebuyers' interests. What administrative gaps persist nearly a decade after its enactment?

Enacted under Entries 6, 7 and 46 of the Concurrent List even though 'land' is a State subject [3], the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 sought to end opacity in housing transactions. Nearly a decade on, it has substantially strengthened buyer protection, but uneven administrative capacity dilutes its promise.

Achievements in protecting homebuyers

• Formalisation: registration is compulsory before advertisement or sale — over 1,51,113 projects and 1,06,545 agents now stand registered nationally [1].
• Accessible redressal: State Authorities have disposed of about 1,47,383 complaints [1], far faster than civil courts.
• Financial discipline: the 70% escrow requirement curbs diversion of buyer money to unrelated projects, the principal cause of stalled housing.
• Deterrence: penalties up to 10% of project cost for non-registration, plus liability for false advertising and carpet-area misdeclaration.
• Transparency: the Unified RERA Portal, launched at the 5th Central Advisory Council meeting, creates a common national database and tracks stalled projects [1].

Administrative gaps that persist

• Incomplete institutional architecture: only 28 States/UTs have set up Appellate Tribunals and 30 functional Regulatory Authorities; States such as Nagaland, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Ladakh lag [2].
• Weak regulator independence: several Authorities function as interim bodies headed by serving officials holding additional charge, rather than full-time benches [2].
• Dilution through State Rules: since implementation is state-specific, some States softened definitions of 'ongoing projects'; the Supreme Court struck down West Bengal's parallel law as repugnant to RERA.
• Execution deficit: recovery certificates issued by Authorities depend on district revenue machinery, making orders difficult to enforce.
• Coverage gaps: small projects and legacy stalled ventures largely fall outside RERA's ambit.

RERA is thus a genuine but partially realised reform — strong in design, uneven in delivery. Filling vacancies with full-time regulators, uniform State Rules, time-bound execution of orders and portal-based monitoring can convert statutory rights into real relief, advancing the constitutional goal of consumer welfare and SDG-11's promise of adequate housing for all.