The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority or MahaRERA completed five years on Sunday. So far, 35,456 projects—of which 26 per cent have been completed-- were registered with the agency formed to protect the interest of homebuyers and stakeholders in the real estate industry. Adhering to its primary objective, MahaRERA has disposed of 68 per cent of 17,598 complaints filed till now.
Commenting on the MahaRERA’s success, its chairman, Ajoy Mehta, told FPJ that it has been taking a lot of game-changing decisions. "We will now focus on tightening the regulatory oversight. If that gets stronger the number of litigations will automatically comes down. In fact, the pendency in cases also brought down with formation of a conciliation forum which is a committee of experts from the industry. 50 per cent of cases today are disposed of through conciliation between the buyer and seller."
While the Builders Association of India, Housing and Rera committee chairperson, Anand Gupta, said, "The agency has instilled confidence among homebuyers and improved the image of the industry. However, giving more powers to MahaRERA will further strengthen the real estate industry. For instance, if approval authorities like BMC, MHADA among others also come under RERA authority it will definitely resolve a lot of disputes."
Similarly, Brihanmumbai Developers Association, an affiliate of NAREDCO West, vice president Harrishkumar Jain, asserted that the MahaRERA has acted as a catalyst for the kind of momentum seen in the sales registration across the state. “Maharashtra is not only leading in terms of projects registered but also in providing solutions to aggrieved homebuyers,"he remarked.
Considering the number of pending cases, I set up a conciliation forum that helped the buyer and seller to sort out disputes. It has helped dispose of 50 per cent cases. Going forward, we are tightening the regulatory oversight. This will bring down the number of litigations.
Ajoy Mehta, MahaRERA chairman
RERA ensures transparency and MahaRERA has been doing extraordinary work as compared to other states. Being a developer I strongly believe that with good laws coming in, it is bringing a level playing field for developers, too.
Gautam Thacker, President, NAREDCO Neral-Karjat Unit
Initially, MahaRERA really helped homebuyers; however, now a lot of cases have piled up and one of the reasons is Covid-19. Ideally, the complaints should be disposed of within 60 days, which is not happening. To address this issue, the state government should fill up the vacant posts.
Godfrey Pimenta, Advocate
MahaRERA should sharpen its teeth. Recently, Nagpur consumer court jailed a developer for three years for non-compliance of order. Similarly, MahaRERA should also take strict action against defaulters. It was set up to protect the interest of homebuyers, and should work with that spirit.
Sulaiman Bhimani, Advocate
