MC Exclusive: MahaRERA issues notices to over 5,000 delayed real estate projects in Maharashtra

"These notices were issued under Section 7 of the RERA Act. The notices are issued as there are several types of violations, from not uploading the latest quarterly progress reports (QPR)'s, to delaying project completion despite substantial booking and money collection etc," the senior MahaRERA official added.

"The notices have been issued, asking them to comply and for these we have been warning them for over one year now. However, we have given warnings and the next step may be to suspend or revoke registrations if developers do not comply despite giving opportunities," the senior MahaRERA official further added.

What is section 7 of RERA Act?

Under Section 7 of  the RERA Act, the regulator has powers to revoke the registration of MahaRERA projects if the promoter (developer) was found to be indulging in any unfair practices or non-complying with the provisions of the RERA Act in the interest of the homebuyers.

What is RERA registration?

Under the RERA Act of 2016, all real estate projects have to be registered with the RERA in the respective states. In Maharashtra, on registration of a project with MahaRERA, the projects are issued a certificate with a unique registration number.

One can log on to the MahaRERA website, and, after entering the unique number, get details on all the projects including litigation, finances of the project and approval status of the project. Under the rules laid down by the Act, a developer cannot book, sell, market or advertise a particular property without first registering it with RERA.

Also read: MahaRERA suspends registration of 388 real estate projects for failing to place details online

Lapsed projects:

According to MahaRERA officials, the majority of lapsed projects in Maharashtra are predominantly in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) followed by other cities like Pune, Nagpur, Nashik etc. In order to tackle these lapsed projects, MahaRERA had in June 2022, announced forming a separate vertical to ensure that these lapsed projects move towards completion.

Real estate developments worth Rs 1,13,023 crore have lapsed in Maharashtra. This translates to a total of 4,08,350 apartments in these lapsed projects, of which 1,63,042 apartments have been booked, MahaRERA Chief Ajoy Mehta had said on March 10. According to the data presented by Mehta during a real estate conference in March 2023, of the Rs 1,13,023 crore estimated budget of these projects, Rs 68,646 crore had been spent.

Notices to projects registered in February 2023:

According to MahaRERA, after issuing notices to projects registered in January 2023, it has now issued notices to over 600 projects that were registered in February 2023.

"We issued notices and suspended registrations of 388 projects registered in January 2023, and now next on the list are those developers who got registered in February 2023, but are not complying with the RERA Act. We will systematically ensure that developers comply by issuing them warning notices. But if there is non-compliance even after that, we as regulators have the powers to suspend or revoke registrations," the senior MahaRERA official added.

Also read: Delayed project: MahaRERA freezes bank account of developer, restricts sales in South Mumbai project

Sub-registrars have been directed not to register sale agreements and sale deeds of flats in the suspended projects, the MahaRERA said in a statement on September 18.  All the projects were registered in January 2023. The regulator’s decision was taken to enforce compliance with regulatory provisions on making details of the projects available on its website.