The Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) is all set to take a decision on increasing earnest money deposits for middle-income group (MIG) and higher-income group (HIG) flats to weed out unnecessary applications by charging a percentage of the total cost of flat under its schemes.
The proposal, which will be soon placed before the housing authority, aims to charge 10% of the total cost of flat under the MHADA scheme so as to ensure applications from only genuine buyers. Senior officials said on Saturday that the authority will meet at the end of the month to finalise the proposal.
“Once the authority approves the proposal, it will be applicable in all revenue divisions. If the amount is a percentage of the total cost, there won’t be random applications,” said an official. The hike in deposit has been proposed only for HIG andMIG flats.
“MHADA flats are allotted through a lottery system and when the results are declared, agents reportedly call up the winners and ask them to sell the flats at a profit. There are reports of many taking away the papers and the allotment and possession letters after the five-year moratorium,” said a retired MHADA official. To avoid this, officials have proposed a hike in EMD by 5 or 10 % of property cost.