The real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 was brought into fruition from May 1, 2017. The law was passed to ensure proper transparency and upkeep regarding the sale of a plot, building, apartment or any real estate commodity for that matter. The Law also makes sure that customer interests are protected during a real estate sale. This has made resolving disputes regarding real estate matters easy and in regulation with the government laws. Maharashtra was one of the first states to adopt the new regulations. This has given rise to Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority or MahaRERA as it is commonly called. MahaRERA came into being on March 8, 2017. MahaRERA has made strict laws regarding the advertisement and promotion of real estate in Maharashtra. Those who don’t abide these laws will be subjected to the punishments or penalties that the regulatory board decides.
Strict laws are stating that one cannot advertise or start their projects without registering with MahaRERA first although ongoing projects are given a time frame of 90 days to register with MahaRERA. As of now, MahaRERA has gotten about 100 project proposals. The Regulatory Authority is looking forward to registering more projects in the coming months. The goal of MaaRERA is to keep track of all the real estate businesses going on in the state so that the common people won’t face any fraudulence from the realtor. The rule of registering to MahaRERA on a project is made to safeguard this very notion. We have always known that when a law passes in India, there is a time lag to get the required traction. By the time a law becomes effective in India, the people who commit fraudulence would have already covered their tracks.
But that isn’t the case when it comes to MahaRERA. The regulatory authority recently proved that it’s here to make a change in the real estate business. The first penalty under the new regularity authority was issued recently to a Chembur-based realtor, Sai Estate consultants. The fine was for advertising about their projects in Thane that weren’t registered with the regulatory authority, MahaRERA. The penalty comes out to be 1.2 Lakhs. The board also asked Sai consultants to remove all the present advertisements till further notice. What this movement from MahaRERA did is that it imparted a sense of confidence in home buyers. To know that an organization which strongly upholds its notions is there to help the consumers and to keep a watch full eye over the realtors. The online media has been going on and on about the new RERA IMPACT.
The complaint the lead to the investigation of Sai estate consultancies was from an activist group in Mumbai. Upon investigation, it was found that Sai consultancies made adverts and promotion of their new projects without registering with MahaRERA. The broker is however registered with MahaRERA, but this does not exclude them for the fault of not registering individual projects. This led to the violation of section 9 and 10 of the act 14. Sai consultants are one among the 1,100 registered realtors in Maharashtra. Sai consultants have already communicated with the regulatory board on how to do the rest of the legalities.
MahaRERA has garnered appraisal from various new papers and the social media. The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority also made a rule stating that after registering a project with MahaRERA the realtor should maintain a separate account for storing 70% of the money they got from the buyers. This is to make sure that the funds do not get diverted. In many cases, realtors divert the money they get from the buyers to new projects, but if something goes wrong or if the market experiences any negative fluctuation it leads to capital loss. One way or another this leaves home buyers at a loss. This particular rule is one of the many victories MahaRERA has put forward.
Another rule put forward by MahaRERA is that any change to a project can only be done after two-thirds of the home buyers agree to it. What MahaRERA has done is that it gave the power back to the people again. Headquartered at Mumbai, MahaRERA is making waves in real estate field in Maharashtra. The Regulatory Authority officials stood by their comments in maintaining customer transparency. In the past, if private companies were to blind side customers, government regulators were made just to watch and not act. But MahaRERA brought about a change that’s equally impressive and long due. Realtor or not, businesses must not forget that customer is always the king.