RERA becomes functional in Bengal, 18 months after SC order: Top official

The West Bengal Real Estate Regulatory Authority (WBRERA) is finally up and running, nearly 18 months after the Supreme Court struck down the state's own regulations introduced as a substitute for the central law, a senior official said.

In May last year, the top court had declared the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulatory Act (WBHIRA) as unconstitutional.

"The WBRERA is now in place and we have very recently commenced functioning. Until the IT backbone is ready, consumers will be able to file complaints against builders, agents and others physically. The website is expected to be operational within a fortnight," Sandipan Mukherjee, who assumed charge as WBRERA chairman, told PTI.

West Bengal was perhaps the only state where the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, passed by Parliament, had not become functional.

The WBRERA is headed by Mukherjee, an ex-Indian Forest Service officer, and consists of two other members -- B N Das (former power department official)