The realty sector has received a much-needed relief as the Maharashtra Government on Thursday said the Real Estate (Regulation and Development Act) (RERA) registration is not required for projects which were started before RERA came into existence and completely subsequently. The RERA registration is also not required for projects if units were sold after receipt of completion certificate.
The government on Thursday issued notification and met the long pending demand made by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (Maharashtra). It was necessitated as the original circular issued by the Revenue Department had stated that any unit even though the completion certificate was received RERA registration was mandatory.
Revenue Minister Balsaheb Thorat said the RERA registration will no longer be required at the time of registration of documents in respect of a completed project.
CREDAI National President Satish Magar said, ‘’ We are happy that the Revenue Minister has taken a note of our request and issued necessary clarification.’’ The Revenue Department Officer explained that there were few projects of pre-RERA period, which were ongoing when RERA came into existence but were not required to register with RERA due to virtual completion on site or such reasons. ‘’While registering any unit sale agreement in those projects, registration offices were insisting on RERA registration numbers. CREDAI had urged the government to remove this ambiguity and therefore the government clarified that registration offices should not insist on such projects. Therefore, the provision of regulation 44 (1) (i) under Registration Act will not be applicable to projects exempted from RERA registration,’’ he said.
The Revenue Department’s notification is important as the registering officer will have to ascertain whether requisite permission from the Competent Authority under the relevant enactment has been obtained and has been attached to the document. ‘’ The registering officer will also ascertain whether the document is contrary to any of the terms and conditions in the no objection certificate granted by the Competent Authority,’’ said the officer.