India, May 2 -- When a Supreme Court judge calls RERA a "rehab centre for ex-bureaucrats", it's a wake-up call. Justice Surya Kant's blunt remark in March 2025 isn't the first indictment of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, and likely won't be the last.

Insiders have been sounding the alarm for years. Former UP RERA member Balvinder Kumar admitted the authority lacks teeth to rein in rogue builders. Haryana's adjudicating officer Rajender Kumar called it a "toothless tiger." Even Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri criticised states back in 2022 for weakening the law and diluting its core purpose: protecting homebuyers.

Now comes a shiny new IT initiative-a unified digital platform for all state RERAs. It sounds great on paper, with t...