MahaRERA gets 55 complaints against builders by homebuyers

These homebuyers of current projects that are registered with MahaRERA have complained about issues including delay in delivery and builders not signing agreement with them

NEW DELHI: Homebuyers filing complaints against realty developers has picked up, and the total number of such complaints filed with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has now risen to 55. The authority has started hearing these complaints and rulings in two cases are expected within the next few days, said a top MahaRERA official.

“We have received total 55 complaints from homebuyers of projects registered with MahaRERA so far. Out of these, six complainants have taken it to the next stage by sharing hardcopies of documents required for the same,“ MahaRERA chairperson Gautam Chatterjee told ET.“We have already concluded hearings of two complaints and the final hearing will be done by the end of this month.“

These homebuyers of current projects that are registered with MahaRERA have complained about issues including delay in delivery and builders not signing agreement with them.

The number of complaints aga inst projects registered with MahaRERA had touched 30 until August 18.

The regulator has already received around 13,000 applications for registration of ongoing projects. Of these, MahaRERA has already processed and registered over 8,000 projects. Information on all these registered projects will be available on the MahaRERA portal from September 1.

Apart from this, the regulator will also be looking into complaints of those developers whose projects need to be registered, but have not done so until September 1. The regulator has also suggested that homebuyers can send emails about ongoing projects -which need to be registered but have not done yet -directly to the regulator.

Chatterjee has already warned that MahaRERA is planning to take strict action against those realty developers whose ongoing projects remain unregistered even after September 1.

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NAR India

MahaRERA warns strict action against ongoing projects not registered until September 1

From September 1, information on all these registered projects will be available on the MahaRERA portal

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Real Estate RegulatoryAuthority (MahaRERA) is planning to take strict action against realty developers whose ongoing projects would remain unregistered even after September 1, said a top official of the regulator.

“We have received 12,700 applications for registration of ongoing projects. Out of these, we have already processed and registered 8,000 projects. Remaining applications will be processed over the next one week,” said MahaRERA chairperson Gautam Chatterjee. “We will deal with those (project developers) required to be registered but not registered until September 1 in a strict manner.”

From September 1, information on all these registered projects will be available on the MahaRERA portal. Following this, homebuyers can send emails about ongoing projects, which are required to be registered but have not registered so far, directly to the regulator, he said on the sidelines of a FICCI- Grant Thornton Advisory conference here.

So far, the regulator has received total 30 complaints from homebuyers of ongoing projects and most of them are related to the issue of delay in delivery.

MahaRERA has already taken a decision to slap a minimum penalty of Rs 1 lakh or an amount equivalent of its registration fees, whichever is higher, for ongoing projects registration applications to be received between August 3 and August 16.

The project registration fee ranges from minimum of Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh depending on the size of the specific project.

This quantum of penalty was applicable for all applications received in the office of MahaRERA until 5pm of 16 August. Applications made for registration of ongoing projects after August 16 will be heard on case-to-case basis and the penalty will be decided by the authority. The builder then will have to explain as to why the application cannot be rejected.

The government enacted the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act 2016 and all the sections of the Act have come into force with effect from May 1 this year. Maharashtra was one of the first states to notify its rules under the Act and establish authority MahaRERA.

The builders had to register their ongoing projects with their respective state RERAs within three months and deadline for the same was set at July 31. Without registering their ongoing projects, the developer is not allowed to undertake marketing or selling of their projects.

As the rules, if the promoter allegedly contravenes the provision of Section 3 – it deals with registration, selling and marketing of new and ongoing projects - he will be liable to pay penalty up to 10% of the project’s estimated cost as determined by the authority.

Until the midnight of July 31, the regulator had received total 10,852 applications for registration of ongoing projects across Maharashtra. The regulator had earlier decided to levy a fine of Rs 50,000 on applications received after the deadline of July 31 until August 2.

The regulator had received 500 applications for registration of ongoing projects until August 2.

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Mumbai civic body's nod to be made mandatory before any repairs to building columns

Investigations revealed that politician Sunil Shitap, main accused in the case, had tampered with the building's columns, even removing some of them, which eventually caused the structure to crash

MUMBAI: In a first, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is moving to amend a crucial section of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act 1888 following the ill-fated Ghatkopar building crash which killed 17 persons last month.

Investigations revealed that politician Sunil Shitap, main accused in the case, had tampered with the building's columns, even removing some of them, which eventually caused the structure to crash.

Hence, the BMC has decided to tread carefully when repairs in a building can affect its columns in any way. The civic body's law officer has been asked to remove 'guniting,' a form of repairs in which the column is exposed, from the ambit of 'tenantable repairs'.

Currently, guniting is included under section 342 of the MMC Act under which a person who intends to make any alterations or repairs to a building involving removal, alteration or re-erection of any part of the building, can do so without having to procure any permission from the civic body.

Tenantable repairs in the section clearly include guniting and plastering, painting, changing floor tiles, flattening of roof or repairing roof with different material. "However in case of guniting we have realized that plastering is done under tremendous pressure if the condition of the column has deteriorated. A weak column may not be able to withstand such force. For any work as such, the BMC's nod would henceforth be made mandatory," said a senior civic official. The plan is to incorporate guniting under section 337 of the MMC Act wherein a notice would be required to be given to the commissioner about the work to be undertaken.

The official said investigations into the Ghatkopar collapse are highlighting how Shitap tampered with the building columns causing it to crash and therefore the BMC wants to put in place measures so that such incidents can be completely avoided. "The investigation report is likely to table a few recommendations as well. However as an immediate measure, the law officer has been instructed to work upon amending the Act in a way that permission of the civic body is taken in case any person intends to tamper with the building structure to a large extent," said the official.

The report into the building crash is expected to be out only on August 21, said a member of the enquiry committee. "The report is in its final stages and it should be out by next week," said an official.

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NAR India

MahaRERA to fine 480 housing projects Rs 50,000 each for deadline breach

Consumer forums and registered builders across the state had been demanding that the MahaRERA issue a circular or direction to stop registration of projects without any penalty after the deadline

The Maharashtra Real EstateRegulatory Authority (MahaRERA) on Wednesday decided to slap a penalty of Rs 50,000 each on the 480 ongoing housing projects that registered with it after the July 31 deadline.

"We had allowed the developers to register their projects, but a decision on the penalty was pending. At a meeting on Wednesday, we decided to impose penalty on the projects registered after the deadline," said MahaRERA secretary Vasant Prabhu.

A decision on the penalty to be slapped on projects registered after August 3 will be taken later, he added.

Consumer forums and registered builders across the state had been demanding that the MahaRERA issue a circular or direction to stop registration of projects without any penalty after the deadline.

“We will convene another meeting to finalize the penalty to be slapped on projects registered on and after August 3,” Prabhu told TOI, adding that there would not be any deadline extension “as it is against the law”.

Section 3 of the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) states that no extension for project registration will be allowed and developers registering their projects will be penalized under Section 59 (non-registration) of the law. The quantum of penalty can be 10% of the project cost and even imprisonment, if the builder concerned does not comply with the order.

Nearly 11,000 projects have been registered with MahaRERA as the deadline came to an end on July 31. Officials said developers still not under the RERA ambit can upload their documents on the website. “But each case will be examined for penalty,” an official said.

The MahaRERA website saw registration of 10,852 ongoing housing projects as the official deadline came to an end. Pune district topped the number of registrations with 2,908 (26.8%) applications.

In the meantime, a circular issued by the Union government stated that Maha-RERA has been entrusted with the additional responsibility of Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Diu and Daman territories in the absence of RERA authority in these union territories.

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Goa extends RERA deadline till October on delay in notifying rules

The central Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) came into effect on May 1, 2017, exactly a year after it was passed by Parliament

PANAJI: A delay in notifying the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) rules for Goa has once again delivered a setback to consumers who were waiting for RERA to be enforced before buying homes. The BJPgovernment on Sunday extended the deadline to October for ongoing projects to register with RERA, even though the central government and other states have clearly refused to grant an extension.

The central Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) came into effect on May 1, 2017, exactly a year after it was passed by Parliament. As per the Act, developers, projects and agents had till July 31 to mandatorily register their projects with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

Any unregistered project would be deemed to be unauthorized by the regulator, but since the state government has failed to notify the rules and the authority as on date, the ministry of urban development has given Goan builders additional time to register with RERA.

TOI had reported on July 15, that the Goa government was likely to accept the demands from builders and extend the deadline by three months.

“Builders and promoters can submit their applications of new and ongoing projects in the prescribed form which can be downloaded from the website. For ongoing projects, applications for registration will be accepted upto October 31, 2017, without levy of penalty,” designated Real Estate Regulatory Authority Sudhir Mahajan said.

The central law, which was enacted to regulate the real estate sector and secure the interest of consumers, states that no builder can advertise, market or sell a plot, apartment or building without registering the real estate project with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

A builder has to pay Rs 10 per sqm of area to the regulator as registration fees for the project.

Goa is one of the few states in the country which has failed to notify the RERA rules. Officials said, the RERA rules for Goa have been framed along the lines of the regulations notified by Maharashtra, which has partially diluted the penalties for non-compliance by builders.

“Notification of the rules will take time. We will try to do it at the earliest,” Mahajan said to TOI when asked if the rules under RERA will be notified in the coming days.

The new regulatory authority was meant to end the uncertainty for home buyers, bring transparency and protect buyers from unscrupulous builders.

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Builders take Centre to court, say RERA illegal

Earlier builders’ demand to exclude incomplete projects was turned down by the Centre saying the law was enacted to bring relief to crores of home buyers who had been waiting for their flats for years

NEW DELHI: A bunch of builders have approached two high courts challenging some of the key provisions in the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) including binging all “ongoing” projects under regulation and penalties for failure to register such projects. They have pleaded that these provisions have retrospective effect since the projects were started when there was no such law and hence it’s illegal.

Earlier builders’ demand to exclude incomplete projects was turned down by the Centre saying the law was enacted to bring relief to crores of home buyers who had been waiting for their flats for years, even after making full payment. According to the law, the mandatory registration of incomplete and new projects with the regulator will have to be done by August 1, else the builders face the risk of paying penalties.

The builders have been opposing this provision amid reports that most of them are cash strapped. Moreover, the law brings transparency and accountability and property developers have to give fresh timelines for completion of projects. The timelines will have to be adhered to.

While Builders and Developers Welfare Association has filed a PIL in Madhya Pradesh High Court, Swapnil Developers has challenged provisions of RERA in the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court. These cases are coming up for hearing in the next one week.

Sources in the housing and urban affairs ministry said RERA is not a law with retrospective effect since it covers all projects, which have not got completion certificate by May 1, 2017. Secondly, the penal provisions come to effect only after the law came to existence.

Till now 22 states and seven Union Territories have got proper or interim regulators and real estate projects can be registered with them.

Builders have challenged the Centre’s right to enact the law relating to land, which is a state subject, and how submitting details of projects to the regulator would amount to infringement of right to privacy.

“The law came into force in March 2016 and there was enough time to complete the ongoing projects. The law says the builders will have to give fresh timeline while registering all projects including the ongoing ones,” a government official said.

He added that the law has been made under the relevant constitutional provisions of the Concurrent List and the ministry had even obtained opinion of the law ministry in June 2012. “The RERA does not provide for matters relating to ‘land’ or ‘local authority’. It aims to regulate the contractual obligations between the builders and buyers. It focuses on resolving disputes in the sector,” the official added.

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