Mumbai: In the first month since the introduction of the state housing regulator Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA), a mere 12 real estate projects and around 1,000 real estate agents have approached the regulator and got their projects registered.
Officials at MahaRERA feel that developers have been slow to approach them as many are still trying to understand the law. Also, whatever the developer submits to MahaRERA in writing would become binding, and hence they could be taking time, said an official.
Under the MahaRERA, all new and ongoing projects that are yet to get occupation certificate (OC) will have to register with the housing regulator. MahaRERA 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. It also 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.
Maha RERA 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” with buyers able to register complaints against builders online.
