In a scathing indictment of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), the Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that the institution has failed in its core mandate and is now functioning primarily to facilitate defaulting builders, leaving homebuyers “depressed, disgusted and disappointed.”
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said it was “high time” for all states to revisit and rethink the very constitution of RERA. Expressing deep dissatisfaction, the Chief Justice remarked that the court would not mind if such an institution was abolished altogether, given its inability to deliver effective relief to the people it was meant to protect.
“Except facilitating builders in default, this institution is doing nothing. Better abolish it,” the CJI said, adding that RERA offices across states have turned into “rehabilitation centres” for retired bureaucrats, with little accountability or impact on ground-level grievances.
The court’s strong remarks came while hearing a plea filed by the Himachal Pradesh government challenging a High Court order that stalled the shifting of the state RERA office from Shimla to Dharamshala. While permitting the state to relocate the office, the bench made it clear that administrative reshuffling does little to address the deeper, systemic failure of RERA as a regulatory body.
The bench noted that despite thousands of complaints pending—mostly from districts like Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur—homebuyers continue to suffer due to delayed projects, non-compliance by builders, and lack of enforcement. “None of them are getting any effective relief,” the CJI observed, questioning whom the authority is actually serving today.
The Supreme Court’s observations underline a larger national concern: an institution created to protect homebuyers has, over time, lost credibility, effectiveness and public trust. The remarks are likely to reignite debate on urgent structural reforms, accountability mechanisms, and whether RERA in its current form is serving its intended purpose at all.