In a suo moto action, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has revoked the registration of 49 real estate projects of developers allegedly involved in fabricating documents.
All the projects are located within a 50 to 150 km radius of Mumbai in the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) jurisdiction, which is a part of in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
Over 50 developers are being investigated for allegedly submitting fake permission documents for obtaining RERA registration.
The KDMC had informed MahaRERA that commencement certificates (CCs) of the estate projects under lens were not issued by it, according to the MahaRERA order.
“It appears that the above-mentioned CCs have been obtained by means that are suspect. Further, it is also brought to the notice of this authority that an investigation into this issue is also pending before the Thane crime branch against the Promoters of the above-mentioned projects,” reads the order.
The order dated November 03, by Ajoy Mehta, Chairman of MahaRERA, came after physical hearings with developers involved in the alleged scam.
Also read: Case against 27 property developers in Thane for fabricating documents to obtain RERA registration
Developers barred from selling further
The MahaRERA also barred all developers from advertising or selling apartments in the 49 projects. “All the promoters shall be barred/ restrained forthwith from advertising, marketing, booking, selling or offering for sale, or inviting persons to purchase in any manner any apartment or building, as the case may be, in these Projects or part of it, in any planning area, of these projects,” the order read.
Also read: MahaRERA suspends registration of 52 real estate projects near Mumbai
What is RERA registration?
As per the RERA Act, 2016, all real estate projects are to be registered with the RERA in respective states. In Maharashtra, on registration of a project with MahaRERA, the projects are provided with a certificate having a unique registration number.
One can log in on the website of MahaRERA, and by entering the unique number can get all details regarding the project. As per the Act, no one book, sell, market or advertise a particular property without having registration with RERA.
Action under which section of the RERA Act?
The order said the regulator has powers under section 7 of the RERA Act, 2016 of revoking the registration of MahaRERA projects if the promoter (developer) was indulging in any kind of unfair practices.
In the present case of not obtaining the CCs from the Competent Authority and misrepresenting to this Authority as well as the allottees / home buyers and collecting money through misrepresentation and taking the bookings in the above-mentioned MahaRERA registered projects can be said to be unfair or deceptive practice, the order said.
The regulator wants a system
The MahaRERA in the order has also mentioned that it would approach the Urban Development Department of Maharashtra to immediately put in place a system wherein all milestone approvals relevant to buyers / purchasers of real estate projects; such as Commencement Certificate (CC), Occupation Certificate (OC) are put on a dedicated portal by the respective planning authority.
This is to ensure that the veracity of the certificates can be verified by both the buyers / purchasers of real estate projects and MahaRERA, said the order.
Change needed
Trupti Daphtary, an Advocate & Solicitor based in Mumbai, said, "It is about time that MahaRERA in association with various planning authorities in Maharashtra brings changes to address this issue. Currently, while registering a project a promoter is required to provide the File/reference number of the planning authority in respect of the project. However, in many cases this is not provided. The promoter must mandatorily supply this information while registering the project and in case such information is not given the project should not be registered."
Daphtary added, "Going forward, the project registration details and the portal to view the records with the planning authorities need to be synced so that the information is available to the allottee (home buyer) on a single window."
Ajoy Mehta, Chairman of MahaRERA, could not be reached for comment.
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