Maharashtra real estate authority resolved 2,100 complaints in one year

The Maharashtra Real Estate Housing Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA), which will complete a year on Tuesday, has so far solved 2,100 of the 2,500 complaints that it received against developers. With 16,200 realty projects covering about 18 lakh apartments registered with it, MahaRERA has become the leading real estate regulator in the country.

According to MahaRERA chairman, Gautam Chatterjee, the biggest advantage was that all the information was brought on a digital platform. “Today, buyers have all the information available online and this has ushered an era of transparency in the realty sector,” he said.

Details of projects registered with MahaRERA are displayed online, and thus, builders have to deliver the flats within the stipulated amount of time or face penal action. The MahaRERA has mandated that all new and ongoing projects need to be registered with it, with details such as layouts, approvals, number of apartments, as well as date of possession.

Builders who fail to hand over possession of the property within the stipulated time period have to pay an interest amount as compensation to the buyers. Builders who tend to give misleading information on the website are also penalised.

Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director, Knight Frank India, a leading real estate consultancy firm, has said that the MahaRERA norms are “path-breaking.” “Maharashtra, which implemented the regulation in letter and spirit, witnessed signs of uptick in residential sales and overall consumers’ satisfaction,” said Baijal.

The MahaRERA was established as a replacement for the Maharashtra Ownership Flat Act, 1963, which proved to be ineffective as builders ran the roost and buyers were kept in a lurch. Even builders have acknowledged the contribution of MahaRERA on the realty sector.

“It has also bridged the trust deficit between builders and developers. The past year has facilitated a level playing field for reputed players, eradicating fly-by-night operators,” said Mr Shailesh Puranik, managing director, Puranik Builders.

Over the past year, builders who failed to register their projects or violated rules were fined up to Rs10 lakh. MahaRERA has also been instrumental in giving a boost to projects that had been under construction but were suffering due to a realty slowdown over the last few years.