The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has raised serious concerns and cautioned homebuyers about over 212 housing projects launched between January and April 2023 across the state.
These projects have not provided any information on their construction status to the housing regulator, thereby making them doubtful, the regulator said.
After registering a project with MahaRERA, it is mandatory to submit Quarterly Progress Report (QPR) in a prescribed format on the regulator’s website and it is evident that these developers are not taking their projects and regulations seriously, as required.
This negligence in compliance and commitments towards homebuyers poses a significant risk and MahaRERA has published a district-wise list of such projects on its website in a bid to caution prospective homebuyers.
Among these, Pune city has the maximum number of such projects at 47 followed by Nashik and Palghar that have 23 such projects each. Thane has 19 such housing projects, Raigad with 17, Sambhaji Nagar has 13 and Nagpur with 8 projects.
In terms of regions, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Konkan have the highest number at 76, followed by Pune at 64, North Maharashtra with 31, Vidarbha with 21 and Marathwada with 20.
As per the regulations, every developer is required to submit the prescribed statement forms quarterly and annually to MahaRERA and update them on the website. This helps in closely monitoring construction, expenses, and related aspects. It also helps in identifying discrepancies, if any, and allows homebuyers to access the required project related information they have invested in or want to invest in.
Out of 2,369 projects registered with MahaRERA between January and April 2023, 886 of them had not submitted Quarterly Progress Reports. Consequently, the regulator had issued notices under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, providing them with a 30-day window for rectification. Section 7 allows the regulator to suspend the project and freeze the project’s bank account, banning all transactions.
The regulator had also sent reminders and penalty was also levied on 672 projects, 244 of whom failed to update Quarterly Progress Reports despite payment of penalties. Attempts are underway to get them to update the project’s status, MahaRERA said.
Of the total defaulters, 60 projects were registered in January 2023, 58 in February 2023, 40 in March 2023 and 56 in April 2023, thus, a total of 212 projects have not responded to all the communications of MahaRERA.