3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Nov 15, 2026 04:38 PM IST: Cabinet Secretariat officials met the FPCE to discuss RERA reforms (File photo).AI Narration Listen 00:000.5x0.75x1x1.25x1.5x2xA week after a homebuyers’ forum wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month raising concerns over the implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 and seeking amendments, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan wrote back on November 2 to the group, welcoming their suggestions and noting that they would be “looked into”. Days later, Cabinet Secretariat officials met with a delegation from the forum to discuss the suggestions on November 12, the forum said Sunday.The Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE), which represents homebuyers and has been a key campaigner for the enactment of RERA, wrote to the Prime Minister on October 26 that the law’s objectives were “far from being achieved” even 10 years on.Their key demand was to shift responsibility for protecting homebuyers’ interests from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to the Consumer Affairs Department. They argued that MoHUA could not be in charge of homebuyers’ welfare when it was also entrusted with promoting the real estate sector.Writing to FPCE president Abhay Upadhyay, Somanathan said, “I thank you for the trouble you have taken to make these thoughtful, well-analysed and wide-ranging suggestions. The suggestions will be looked into.”In a press release on Sunday, the forum said a delegation of Upadhyay and FPCE members Ratul Mazumder and Jai Pal Raheja met officials of the Cabinet Secretariat.“At the meeting, FPCE also explained its central suggestion – the separation of the promotion and development of real estate from the protection of homebuyers – and handed over a compilation of the representations it has made since 2018, showing that these issues have been raised continuously at every forum available to it, and that not one of them has been resolved,” the FPCE said.They also suggested the setting up of a national appellate tribunal for real estate instead of the existing state appellate tribunals.Story continues below this ad“The same provision of a central Act is today read differently from State to State, so that a homebuyer’s rights depend on where he happened to buy. A single appellate forum would build one body of RERA law for the whole country, as the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and the National Green Tribunal have done in their fields,” they said.The forum also suggested making the agreement for sale a binding statutory document and providing a statutory exit for the homebuyer in case of job loss or the death of an earning member of the family.Referring to the Cabinet Secretary’s response, Upadhyay said, “It is heartening that the concerns and proposed solutions set out in our letter to the Prime Minister have received the Cabinet Secretary’s attention and an assurance that they will be looked into. We are grateful for the opportunity to explain our suggestions in person to officials of the Cabinet Secretariat. This gives homebuyers renewed hope.”© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd Tags:india real estateAdvertisementLoading Recommendations...Nov 15: Latest News01The Jadeja connection: How Jamnagar shaped Mohit Ulva, India U-19’s unlikely hero02Step inside Varun Dhawan’s 4BHK Juhu home: Black-and-white interiors, vintage lights and warm wood03Mohit’s the man: Number ten ends Pak’s reign as India become U-19 Asian champs04Your passport is valid, but you could still be denied boarding: here’s why0519,000+ entrepreneurs, 5 months, 450 trainings: Delhi govt on MSME focusAdvertisementAdvertisement