The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) last week said buildings and row houses in a ‘premium residential complex’ project at Nashik, where OC existed and possession was already handed over to buyers, does not require registration under Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) of 2016.
The row houses and other four storied buildings had received Occupancy Certificate (OC) before the Act commenced in 2017 and one in May, within an exception carved under the Act.
Owners of row houses and flats who had approached the MahaRERA are at liberty to go before an “appropriate forum’’ said a July 9 MahaRERA order by its chairperson Ajoy Mehta. But the order said they cannot seek registration of the project on the ground that their layout has changed since adjoining vacant plots have been sold by developer to a third party where high rise structures are likely to come up, since the buildings and row houses they occupy are already complete and require no registration under RERA.
The row house and flat owners as members of a ‘society’ had filed a complaint before MahaRERA seeking registration of the project. Through their advocate Sneha Prabhu their case was that they were assured open space and low density housing, but they fear that the adjoining land, part of the same project layout, according to them has been sold to third parties. Some high rise towers may come up by deviating from original plans, hence it is an “ongoing project’’ which needs to be registered.
Prabhu said that there are about 240 members in the society and that plans as shown during sale and what is being executed today have changed and “this has impacted the facilities and amenities that were promised to them.”
Vikramjeet Garewal advocate for the developer said the society is not registered and hence has no legal standing. Since the complainants are not allottees as recognized under RERA, they cannot harbour any grievance that can be adjudicated and also that the buildings stand completed, requiring no registration.
The MahaRERA in its order noted that physical possession was handed over to the complainant, at Ashok Astoria township project in Nashik, comprising building and row houses and it cannot be called an ‘ongoing project’.
The order added that the promoter has physically completed the development of the building prior to the commencement of RERA. Under RERA, an ongoing project needed to be registered and few house owners filed a complaint this year for orders from MahaRERA for registration of the project.
The complaint was that since marketing of unsold vacant plots was still on, the project ought to be registered to bring the builder under the regulatory authority. Once registered, the builder or promoter of a project has certain liabilities and allottees can claim compensation and interest for any breaches in plans.
Section 3 of the RERA which mandates registration of project before it can be advertised for sale or marketed, requires two conditions to be fulfilled–project work has to be ongoing on the date of commencement of the Act and for which completion certificate has not been issued.
The MahaRERA has held that the promoter has physically completed the development of the building occupied by the complainants and OC was also issued prior to the Act. The building cannot be treated as an ongoing project in accordance with Section 3 of the RERA Act.
