MahaRERA notice to lapsed projects, yield results

Representational Image

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has received an encouraging and positive response to the whopping number of notices that were issued. Of the 10,773 lapsed housing projects that were served with show cause notices, 5,324 have replied with the desired response.

"The housing regulator had issued show cause notices to the developers of the projects that had failed to keep MahaRERA updated about their project's status, despite the project completion deadline getting lapsed. Such developers were provided with a 30 day window to update their project's information," said MahaRERA official.

Builders of 5,324 housing projects have replied to the show cause notices, which is welcoming. Of these, 3,517 projects have submitted their Occupancy Certificates and 524 have applied for the project's deadline to be extended. Currently, the response of 1,283 projects is under scrutiny. Already, action has been initiated to kept in abeyance 1,950 projects' registration with MahaRERA and their bank accounts have been frozen. In these projects, transaction related restrictions have been put into place, the official added (see area wise box).

In case of the balance 3,499 housing projects, a process has been initiated to take similar action against them, as they have not responded.

While registering the project with the MahaRERA, the developer has to unambiguously mention the project's proposed completion date.

In case of the project getting ready as per the proposed completion date, the developer is required to submit Form 4 along with the Occupancy Certificate. If not ready, then the builder has to apply for the deadline's extension.

In case of an eventuality of the project faced with challenges, the developer is required to apply for the project's de-registration. Apart from these, each project's promoter is required to mandatorily submit QPR and annual progress reports on MahaRERA's website within the specified time frame.

These measures are required to be taken along with the necessary supporting documents. MahaRERA has decided to initiate strict action against the projects that do not comply with any of the above steps as per the timeline mentioned in the Act. Therefore, MahaRERA has decided to cancel or suspend registration of the erring projects, apart from levying penal measures and also instructing the Joint District Registrars not to register sale or purchase of any flat in such projects. Bank accounts of the defaulting projects have also been frozen, the official concluded.

When contacted MahaRERA Chairman, Manoj Saunik, said, "The primary objective of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 is to ensure transparency, accountability and financial discipline in the real estate sector. This is to protect the homebuyers' interests. For this purpose, every housing project is required to update the project's status on MahaRERA's website periodically - quarterly and annually. This keeps the homebuyers to stay informed about the project. However, in practice, it has been happening to a limited extent. On Compliance Cell's review of registered projects, in January 2023, it was discovered that only 3 out of 748 projects had updated the required information. After a series of follow-ups, there has been a significant improvement in the flow of information. This is evident from the responses received to the show cause notices of lapsed projects."

Saunik further added, "MahaRERA is aware that the number of projects that have not responded is significant and we have initiated action against such projects to protect homebuyer's interests. It is mandatory for the developers to keep project details updated on MahaRERA's website. To ensure this, MahaRERA insists on Quarterly Progress Report's (QPR) submission within the prescribed time frame."