Pankaj Bhardwaj v. Alpine Infraprojects Pvt. Ltd.
Forum: UPREAT
Facts:
The appellant was a registered real-estate agent who entered into an MOU with the promoter and facilitated bookings. He claimed approximately INR 0.99 million as unpaid commission. UPRERA dismissed the complaint.
Issue:
Whether RERA provides a remedy for a real-estate agent's purely contractual claim for brokerage or commission.
Held:
UPREAT held that the appellant was neither an allottee nor an aggrieved person within the relevant statutory framework for the claim. The dispute was contractual and could be pursued before an appropriate forum.
Ratio:
RERA is not a general contractual-recovery forum. A claim for brokerage or commission must have a statutory RERA foundation to fall within the Authority's jurisdiction.
Practical Impact:
Real-estate agents should distinguish between statutory regulatory grievances and ordinary contractual recovery claims.
Relevant RERA Sections:
Section 2(zm) — real-estate agent; Section 9 — registration of real-estate agents; Section 31 — complaints; Section 71 — adjudication, where applicable.
