MHADA house lottery rules changed to eliminate rigging

Mumbai: With repeated complaints of malpractices, the state-run Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has changed the rules pertaining to its lottery system of distributing flats. Applicants will now have to submit their documents at the time of applying unlike earlier when they had to give their documents after being selected through the lottery system.

In the first post-pandemic lottery, which will be drawn in February or March, MHADA has thousands of flats for all categories, including 50 high-income group (HIG) flats in upscale Bandra. The pricing has yet to be decided.

The reason for the change in MHADA’s rules is the corruption that the lottery system has been mired in for years. To eliminate the rigging that took place in the ’90s when the lottery was drawn manually, CIDCO introduced a mechanised system with zero human interference. However, when the papers went for verification to MHADA, its officers would indulge in malpractices while clearing them.

“The human interference in the verification of documents has now been eliminated,” said MHADA vice-president Anil Diggikar. “Only those applicants whose papers are complete can take part in the lottery. Earlier, there used to be a waiting list that dragged on for years and many malpractices.”

In the new system, applicants will need to submit their identity papers and domicile and income certificates, after which MHADA will decide which category of flat (EWS, LIG, MIG or HIG) they will be allowed to apply for. Certificates for the reserved quotas will also have to be submitted in advance.

On the MHADA list this time, besides Bandra, are 417 EWS flats in the island city; 512 EWS flats in Kurla; 490 EWS flats, 30 MIG flats and one HIG flat for HIG in Borivali; and nearly 4,000 flats in various categories at Pahadi in Goregaon.