The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has levied a fine of Rs 18.30 lakh on 90 developers across the state, including 34 from Pune, for publishing advertisements without registration numbers.
Among the other developers, 52 are from Mumbai, while four are from Nagpur. “These 90 builders are among the total 197 developers who have been issued notices for violation of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. While fines have been levied on 90 developers, the remaining are in the hearing process,” a senior MahaRERA official said on Friday.
According to MahaRERA officials, in some advertisements, developers failed to mention the registration number clearly or in the required font size. Under RERA, the advertisement issued by the developer should mention the registration number clearly to help homebuyers make an informed decision on investing in such projects.
“We have already recovered Rs 11.85 lakh from the developers and the remaining would have been told to pay the fine at the earliest,” the official said. The hearing of the cases is being conducted not just in the Mumbai head office, but also in Pune and Nagpur regional offices to cover the fines.
Earlier, MahaRERA had specified that developers will have to pay the penalty amount within 15 days. Those who do not pay the amount within the stipulated time period, will have to pay an extra Rs 1,000 per day till clearing the penalty amount. Moreover, such they will not be allowed to avail of MahaRERA services till they pay the fine amount.Depending on the size of the advertisement in newspapers and social media, the fine was levied on the developers in the range of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh for flouting the norm.
According to RERA, any project (including flats) of more than 500sqm or eight flats is required to be registered with MahaRERA. And without the MahaRERA registration number, no developer is allowed to issue any kind of advertisements for the project or bookings in that project.
Consumers’ groups have demanded that the final list of developers flouting the RERA rule should also be put up on the MahaRERA website.
