Mumbai: The state real estate watchdog, MahaRera, has issued show-cause notices to 10,773 ‘lapsed’ projects registered with it since May 2017. Notices were issued to the promoters for failure to update the project status and related information even after passage of the project completion date. The Real Estate act, 2016, makes it mandatory to update quarterly progress reports for every project.
Seen from a home-buyer’s point of view, a lapsed real estate project means blocking of the buyer’s investment.
Projects are considered to have lapsed if developers do not submit occupation certificate (OC) by the completion date mentioned, or seek extension to complete the project, or seek de-registration of the project, said a MahaRERA official.
The regulator will initiate action in case of failure to do either of these within 30 days. Registration of these projects may be suspended or cancelled, besides imposing restrictions on sale of flats as well as freezing of bank accounts. Also, punitive action may be imposed, or instructions issued to the joint district registrar directing not to register any purchase or sale of any flats in such projects.
Of the 10,777 projects to which notices have been issued, 5,231 are in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The Pune region has 3,406, Nashik region 815, Nagpur region 548, Sambhaji Nagar region has 511, Amravati has 201, Dadra & Nagar Haveli 43 projects, and Daman & Diu has 18 projects.
“A project proponent has to mention the scheduled date of project completion while registering with MahaRera. Thereafter, towards completion date, an occupancy certificate along with Form 4 certifying [that] the project has been completed has to be mandatorily submitted by the project proponent,” said a MahaRera official.
MahaRera chairman Manoj Saunik said the regulatory authority has initiated micro-monitoring of the real estate sector at multiple levels.
