New Delhi, 27 March. BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh Laxmikant Bajpai on Friday demanded comprehensive amendments in the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) and insolvency laws in the Rajya Sabha, saying thousands of home buyers across the country have spent their life savings but are yet to get flats, while builders escape accountability by declaring themselves bankrupt.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Upper House, Bajpayee said that the Central Government implemented the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) and established institutions like ‘Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India’ and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, but its implementation, especially in Uttar Pradesh, was not as expected. “The implementation of RERA in Uttar Pradesh is completely flawed. Thousands of projects are lying incomplete and many builders have escaped legal accountability by declaring themselves bankrupt,” he said.

The MP said that in many cases, despite the flats being constructed, the builders did not pay the government dues, due to which the registrations were stuck and the buyers were not able to get the legal ownership. He said, “The builder commits the mistake and the common citizen gets punished.” Bajpayee demanded that the bankruptcy law should be amended to include a provision that if a builder is declared bankrupt, his personal properties can be confiscated and strict punishment should be given after a thorough investigation.

The BJP member also raised the issue of delay in RERA, saying that investigation into defaults by builders should be completed in a time bound manner and cases should not be allowed to remain pending indefinitely. “Improvement in the situation is not possible without a strict and effective legal framework,” he said and appealed to the government to provide justice to lakhs of aggrieved buyers by amending the real estate and RERA laws.