In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a pan-India home buyers’ pressure group, ‘Fight for RERA’, has said that for projects that are delayed for more than five years, banks should be ready to take a ‘haircut’ and foreclose all loans without collecting any further EMIs. The letter from the group’s national convenor, Abhay Upadhyay, said the move will provide relief to such home buyers, as they have to pay rent, as well as equated monthly instalments (EMIs).
“It will be wrong on the part of the banks, to take haircut from loans taken by billionaire industrialists and on the other hand, burden middle-class home buyers with EMIs,” it added. ‘Haircut’ in the context of loans, means giving up a part of claims by banks on debt, for its resolution.
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The group also pitched for providing power to the real estate regulator, to attach the assets of all the companies under the same promoter, including personal wealth, to arrange funds for completion of the unfinished projects. It reiterated its demand to constitute a high-level empowered committee comprising all stakeholders, to protect the interest of home buyers, in high-risk category projects.
Fight for RERA, whose members including RWAs, NGOs and home buyers across the country, also called for amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, to give first priority to home buyers, in settling their dues by completion of project or refund with interest, without any haircut. A copy of the letter was also marked to Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri.