Chandigarh, Nov 7 (IANS): The Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (HARERA) in Gurugram has established a full-fledged mediation forum for amicable conciliation of disputes between the promoter and the allottee, an official said on Saturday.

Alternate dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms like arbitration, mediation, and conciliation are much more private, economical and time-efficient than litigation and therefore, it is prudent that such mechanisms are incorporated in the myriad field of laws, particularly laws dealing with the real estate sector, which has a huge pendency of cases due to home buyers approaching the real estate regulatory authorities for grievance redressal.

An official spokesperson said HARERA has brought to the forefront a multitude of cases of home buyers' dissatisfaction in dealing with real estate developers and service providers.

He said delays in delivery of projects, hike in costs during construction, skewed builder-buyer agreement, and the absence of an effective enforcement mechanism have increased home buyers' trauma and agony over the years and has subsequently resulted in more number of complaints being brought before the regulator.

Furthermore, this has not only increased the pressure on HARERA authorities but also on civil courts which are already dealing with excess pendency of cases, he added.

He said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had on several occasions stated that the state government was laying emphasis on redressing the disputes through counselling and mediation to minimize litigation.

Therefore, in consonance with the state government initiative, the HARERA taking a step forward has decided to adopt mediation as an ADR mechanism for dispute resolution in real estate matters and has set up a fully dedicated mediation centre in the authority, he added.

He said that the mediation forum would provide the parties an option to have a settlement outside the formal authority proceedings.