MahaRERA imposes Rs 2.75 lakh penalty on Homesfy Realty for advertising projects without QR code

Mumbai real estate update: After making it mandatory for developers, MahaRERA also asked real estate agents to do the same or face a penalty of up to Rs 50,000.

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has levied a penalty of Rs 2.75 lakh on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) listed real estate agency Homesfy Realty Ltd for publishing advertisements of six real estate projects without mentioning MahaRERA registration number and without displaying the QR code designated by the MahaRERA to the project.

Among the projects, the penalty in one project is for advertising without displaying the registration number and in the rest five, the penalty is for issuing advertisements without the QR code of the projects issued by MahaRERA.

Homesfy Realty is a channel partner for several developers in Mumbai and was listed on the NSE in January 2023. The company is mainly involved in primary sales of residential real estate.

The rule

Starting August 1, MahaRERA has made it mandatory for all developers to prominently display a QR code—black-and-white barcodes that are scannable—on every real estate project promotion/advertisement, across all visual media.

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After making it mandatory for developers, MahaRERA also asked real estate agents to do the same or face a penalty of up to Rs 50,000.

Real estate agents shall prominently display a QR code on every real estate project promotion/advertisement published in the mediums as more specifically listed in the MahaRERA order of May 2023, the regulator said in an order issued on August 21.

Also read: Maharashtra: From today, developers to display QR code on advertisements or face up to Rs 50k penalty

 The penalty

All the six projects for which penalty has been imposed on Homesfy are located in the Mumbai real estate market. In one case for a project in Kanjurmarg, the MahaRERA has imposed a Rs 25,000 penalty owing to the developer not publishing the registration number of the project on the website of the project.

The company contended before the MahaRERA that the inadvertent mistake was rectified. However, the MahRERA imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 via an order dated September 27, 2023.

In five other projects, the MahaRERA imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 each via an order dated October 13, 2023. "After hearing the submissions of the Respondent, a penalty of Rs 50,000/- is imposed upon the respondent (Homesfy) for not incorporating the QR code of the said project in the advertisement," the MahRERA in said one such order dated October 13.

Meanwhile, Homesfy in an email response to Moneycontrol said the implementation was complied with before the authorities pointed out.

"As regards the order, the company is considering and exploring legal avenues for revision/appeal," said a Homesfy Realty spokesperson.

Also read: After developers, MahaRERA asks real estate agents to display QR code or face penalty

"The company represented and submitted to the MahaRERA that given the high volume of websites being handled by it as a channel partner for various developers/builders, it was a difficult task to implement the QR code on all the websites in the window provided. While most of the sites were complied with, very few missed the deadline by about 2-3 days due to a technical glitch. However, before the receipt of intimation from the authorities, the implementation was completed," the spokesperson added.