MahaRERA has declared 407 projects across the state “lapsed” in 2021 after their validity of registration expired. The ‘lapsed’ list includes around 23 projects in the Aurangabad division alone.
As per rules, a promoter must not advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale, or invite people to purchase any plot, apartment, or building in any of these projects.
Consumer rights activist Vivek Velankar said buyers should check the MahaRera database before purchasing property. “Also, there needs to be official clarity on how buyers, who had booked flats or homes in launch or pre-launch stage, can back out of such lapsed projects easily. The MahaRERA should prevail upon promoters to return the buyers’ money with interest,” he said.
When contacted, the Confederation of Real Estate Developer’s Association of India (Credai) office-bearers said they were looking at the 407 projects concerned closely and identifying issues with them.
“The Credai is working with the authorities to use the provision of sections 15 and 7 of the MahaRERA Act, wherein another developer takes over the project so that it is completed and the buyers get their homes. We are committed to finding a solution to these projects and delivery of homes to the people who have invested in them,” Manish Jain, the vice-president of Credai (Pune Metro), said.
The MahaRERA came into force on May 1, 2017. Maharashtra was one of the few states that brought ongoing projects under the Act, the Credai officials said, adding that a majority of these 407 projects were from the pre-MahaRERA time and were classified as “ongoing” projects.
