Important Developments In Maharashtra RERA
Maharashtra is the first state in India to implement the Real Estate Law in letter and spirit, followed by Madhya Pradesh. Here are some developments you must know of in the state after the implementation of the law:
Ruling goes online
The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) is now taking up cases against unregistered projects online. According to media reports, the authority has launched a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to hear complaints filed against unregistered projects. Under the new procedure, the complainant could submit details about such projects on MahaRERA's website under the non-registration tab and then request for a hearing. For this, the complainant will have to submit a fee of Rs 5,000.
Once the authority's technical officer assigned for a particular complaint scrutinises the project and meets the promoter of the project, the hearing will be scheduled. The complainant, on the day fixed for the hearing, will have to provide a declaration that the copy of the complaint, along with hearing details, has been duly served upon the respondent. Once the hearing is completed, the ruling will be uploaded on the authority's website.
Slashed registration fees
To further promote project registration among smaller developers, the state government has reduced the registration fees a builder pays to register their project with the MahaRERA. According to media reports, the minimum fee of Rs 50,000 has now been reduced to Rs 10,000. The move is aimed at promoting project registration among developers in small cities and rural areas.
By June 2019, 16,796 projects have been registered with the MahaRERA.
Keep it transparent
The authority has mandated that builders should display sanctioned building plans on their websites and project sites. The builder firm stands to be penalised if they do not comply by the rule.
Previously, real estate developers needed to submit the sanctioned building plans for use by the state's RERA website.
As an added step, developers cannot add advertisment and promotional cost to their construction costs and the 70 per cent of finances that needs to be maintained in an escrow account cannot be used for any other purpose besides the rightful use.
MGP urges for web portal registration
The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) mandates that all developers, brokers and agents be registered under RERA. This will also include all the real estate web portals. Given the popularity of such portals due to the convenience factor, more and more homebuyers, in fact 85 per cent of them, resort to online mediums to find a suitable property.
Given the popularity of this medium, the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) has requested the Maharashtra RERA (MahaRERA) to bring portals under it to ensure further transparency. It has also urged that these portals should register under the authority within the next two months.
A PTI report quoted MGP chairman, Shirish Deshpande saying,"With regard to the definition of real estate agent, we have no doubts that property portals like Magicbricks.com, Makaan.com, 99acres.com, among others, are acting as agents, facilitating buying/selling of properties. As such they are legally liable to register themselves with MahaRERA.” It believes that if the portals come under the authority, it would generate more confidence among homebuyers.
Do note that all portals that carry on the work of an agent have to be mandatorily registered unless they are only advertising and not involved in buying and selling activities, in such a case they neednt register.
Note: Makaan.com, PropTiger.com and Housing.com are registered under the Real Estate Regulatory Authority.
Complaints come pouring in
Homebuyers can register their complaint with RERA after a payment of Rs 5,000 in case of registered projects. Statistics on MahaRERA’s portal suggest that 7,728 complaints have been received so far. While 2,952 are in the process of hearing, 4,826 orders have already been passed as of June 2019.
Change in timelines
Reportedly, more than half of the registered projects had to shift their delivery timelines. A media report claimed that “In more than 24 per cent of the units registered, developers changed the delivery date between 12 months and 18 months whereas 19 per cent houses have been delayed between 24 months and 48 months.”
Managing two together
The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority has been given the additional charge of being the regulator for two Union Territories of Dadra Haveli Nagar and Daman and Diu.
Homebuyers beware
There has been a strict reminder from the authorities regarding sale and advertisement of unregistered projects. However, home buyers should watch out for unstructured sellers trying to hand over projects that haven't been registered. “Some builders are flashing advertisements announcing that their projects were RERA certified without displayed the registration number. This can potentially mislead home buyers,” a national daily quoted Maharashtra's Housing Minister, Prakash Mehta saying. Advertisements on local trains could also be misleading, therefore home buyers should watch out for what they are getting into.
Heftier fines
The MahaRERA now plans to levy a heavy penalty on builders who do not obtain the Occupancy Certificate (OC) for their already occupied projects within three months. In case a developer fails to do, he will have to pay an interest amount to every resident of the building that files a complaint. Reports suggest that over 10,000 buildings in Mumbai do not have an OC.
Earlier, the authority had also increased the penalty amount for not registering the project from the previously agreed Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh or the registration cost, whichever is higher.
Managing two together
The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority has been given the additional charge of being the regulator for two Union Territories of Dadra Haveli Nagar and Daman and Diu.
Homebuyers beware
There has been a strict reminder from the authorities regarding sale and advertisement of unregistered projects. However, home buyers should watch out for unstructured sellers trying to hand over projects that haven't been registered. “Some builders are flashing advertisements announcing that their projects were RERA certified without displayed the registration number. This can potentially mislead home buyers,” a national daily quoted Maharashtra's Housing Minister, Prakash Mehta saying. Advertisements on local trains could also be misleading, therefore home buyers should watch out for what they are getting into.