Gurgaon champions home buyers' cause

With consumer activism on the rise, real estate developers are being shaken down to their very foundations. Case in point: the 14-day judicial remand ordered on the promoters of NCR-based Unitech. Now, the promoters may have been granted bail two hours after the remand order was handed down, but Nayantara Rai reports that authorities are looking at more ways to safeguard a customer's interests in the real estate market.

Home buyers have a new champion when it comes to redress for delays by real estate developers. IAS officer and Gurgaon's deputy commissioner TL Satyaprakash has set up the arbitration council, that is an ombudsman and a quasi legal body, to resolve disputes between builders and home buyers.

So far, two public meetings have taken place and the deputy commissioner says this new mechanism has brought relief to nearly 1000 consumers.

Aggrieved consumers can log into gurgaonadmin.com and register their complaints. Cases are taken up depending on the size of the builder, the project in question, and the number of affected parties.