The Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) has rejected the plea that individual home buyers do not have locus standi to file a complaint against the developer after forming an association, which alone can resolve the disputes with the promoter.
In his complaint, K. Balasubramaniyan said he, along with his wife, had jointly purchased an apartment in “Tulive Viha” at Anna Nagar East from G.K.S. Technology Park Pvt. Ltd in 2019. He objected to the sale of a part of the alleged common area to two other home buyers Devendra Bhatia and Anjula Bhatia.
The complainant named the builder and the other home buyers as respondents. Mr. Bhatia and Ms. Bhatia challenged the maintainability of the complaint on the grounds that he had no locus standi since the association of the buyers (Tulive Viha Apartment Owners Association) had been formed and it was the association which had to resolve the disputes with the promoter. The TNRERA rejected the plea, noting that the respondents had misconstrued the explanation to Section 31(1) of the RERA Act. As per the section, any aggrieved person may file a complaint for any violation or contravention of the provisions of the Act, it said. The definition of person includes the association members in addition to the individual buyers, it said.
The authority reiterated that once the Act was in place, recourse could be taken through arbitration and rejected the plea on that ground as well and ruled that the complaint was maintainable.
