Mumbai: The state government on Monday formally introduced the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory act (RERA) 2016, which is said to be a pro-buyer act and under it, all housing projects are to be registered. The act is said to make the process of buying and selling of houses “transparent” and the buyers can register complaints against the builders online.
While speaking on the occasion of the 57th Maharashtra Day celebrations, governor C. Vidyasagar Rao announced the implementation of the Act. The new Act would be on the lines of the RERA being implemented at the national level to make realty transactions transparent and accountable. Along with Maharashtra, the act came into force in 13 other states and union territories.
From now, all the projects by builders will have to be compulsorily registered on the website of the RERA along with all the plans and proposals and quarterly updates on construction progress for the buyers to verify before making a house buying decision.
RERA aims to protect the interests of homebuyers by penalising builders for delays in the projects, and also states that the builder must provide quarterly reports of the progress of the project. Also, it mandates that the builders must keep 70 per cent of the amount collected in a separate account and disallows any diversion of funds to other projects.
Gautam Chatterjee, interim officer of RERA in the state, said, “The website is already live, and the buyers can register their complaint, and the RERA has also set up its office in the SRA building at Bandra where a dedicated staff will look after the complaints of the aggrieved buyers. The staff will be taking over the office from Tuesday onwards.”
Amit Chawla, associate director, Colliers, said, “RERA is a win-win situation for both developers and buyers as the former will enjoy the benefits of consumer confidence coming back in the market.”
On registration of real estate agents, Shishir Baijal, chairman, Knight Frank, India, said, “It is good that brokers have been brought within the ambit of RERA and any deviation would invite penal actions.”
