The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) chairman Ajoy Mehta has cautioned the developer community and said that it would not be simple anymore to register housing projects with the regulator.
There will be intense scrutiny, warns Mehta
While addressing a gathering of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI)-Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) members on Tuesday, Mehta said, “It won’t be like submitting a project in an envelope and it will get stamped. We will scrutinise it intensely. It takes time and a lot of people are complaining that it’s taking a lot of time, but that time is required. I owe you an explanation but not an apology. Developers need to train their staff and undertake proper work for registration.”
As a measure to reduce disputes and waiting time for redressal, Mehta said that MahaRERA is monitoring areas that are making a few people very uncomfortable. “But I am very comfortable, and unless I sort that out, disputes will not end,” said Mehta.
20,000 disputes pending with MahaRERA
Currently, there are around 20,000 disputes pending at the regulator’s office; all put together, they have a waiting time of two to three years.
As has been the case for the last couple of months, the Quarterly Progress Reports (QPR) that are mandatory for the builders to upload with MahaRERA will be monitored closely. For instance, 584 residential projects were served show cause notices for not having filed their QPR. These projects were part of the 746 projects launched and registered in January this year.
'Reports on nil work need to be uploaded'
“Only after we issued notices that people approached us with a grouse that they haven’t started work on their projects. Not starting work doesn’t mean missing the necessary compliance. Reports on nil work need to be uploaded, too,” explained Mehta.
In another instance, some developers maintained a common escrow account for multiple projects. As per the law, a dedicated escrow account has to be maintained for every housing project.
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