direct builders to pay 18 interest on the amount deposited with the builder in normal course builders pay 4 6 interest to consumers for project delays to prevent builders from delaying the case by asking for adjournments the national commission has started levying adjournment cost on parties not appearing in the court at the time of hearing these can be as high as rs 10000 to 20000 per missed hearing there are options for consumers to apply for relief in civil courts too civil courts can give pecuniary compensation for up to rs 1 crore which is much higher than the limits set for state and district consumer forums some advocates prefer civil court over consumer forum as the applicability of code of civil procedure and indian evidence act makes it convenient for lawyers to establish their cases says geetanjali dutta a practising lawyer at bombay high court homebuyers would be even more protected against unscrupulous builders once states set up the real estate regulator mechanism as propounded by the recentlypassed real estate regulation and development act 2016 or reraits too early to say which option consumers would choose rera brings in a lot of clarity within the real estate sector higher conviction rate may encourage consumers to approach regulators for legal recourse regardless of that consumer forums would still be relevant feels chabbra anil bhattar cofounder coo of radisson consulting a mumbaibased firm with significant practice in real estate sector feels real estate appellate tribunals would play an important role in alleviating the problems of homebuyersappellate tribunals will adjudicate cases in 60 days as against the earlier provision of 90 days real estate needs a regulator more than any other asset class like stock market as it affects more consumers says bhattarthe new act the rera at least on paper is set to make the process of buying a house easier the act is intended to bring transparency and accountability in realty sector thus increasing consumer confidence and benefiting the sector as a whole while the act lights up a ray of hope for tormented homebuyers stringent compliance norms are giving sleepless nights to many a real estate developersits very complicated and onesided rera needs a lot of changes before implementation says a leading mumbai builder having multiple business interests rera makes it mandatory for all builders to register their project with state real estate regulatory authority tagging along extensive information about the project construction plan landrelated clearances and approvals from local bodiesthis bill is meant for consumers and not exactly for builders its meant to protect homebuyers the first objective of transparency is met with this bill therell be adequate disclosure from now on opines niranjan hiranandani chairman hiranandani grouprera would not be applicable to projects laid out in less than 500 sqmts of land or in cases where number of apartments does not exceed eight units projects that have finished completion prior to the commencement of act as well as those up for renovationredevelopment which