Consumers and Lawyers declare their unhappiness for the complaints under MahaRERA.

When it comes to registering real estate projects and also concerning grievances, Maharashtra can have the best place between states. Nonetheless, that is where the distinction stops.

The state has no information to simplify the purchasing decision for the consumers. The action-taken-report remains missing; moreover, most of the consumers and lawyers are unhappy about the fulfilment of such orders.

This is also evident from a fundamental duality with the purpose of the legislation that imposes a regulatory and developmental role on the authority. “There is no way we can completely punish a developer because he is struggling already.  People believe that the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) is a consumer portal, and we need to ensure that the industry thrives,” A senior officer from MahaRERA replied when asked about why the penalty for errant developers is not enforced as provided by law.

Industry sources said it’s mainly known where and with which developers the faults occur. “Also the MahaRERA website reports are full of inconsistencies.”

“Many developers have drawn up projects that have not been accepted, where extra rooms or floors are dunked-in, agreements which are not compatible with the law, among others. Certain data, such as current work status, number of units or parking lots sold as well as the detailed information of the dispute cannot be found in the periodic updates.

While the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) stipulates that the developers should immediately upload litigation information, many have been found their own sweet time to be using,” the source said.

Customers also reported that many developers flaunted the completion certificate even when simple civic operations were incomplete.

“Consumers can not only rely on the information published on the RERA website of the respective State or Union territories. They must do their due diligence before they buy a property… the details of the project (accomplishment, pending etc.) mentioned on the website should reflect the true image otherwise RERA will be enacted without success,” said Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock property consultants. 

He added that the Uttar Pradesh RERA took the step of issuing a separate list of defaulted projects and builders.

Almost all of MahaRERA’s complaints are of project delays, although many developers seek to update their deadline just before the legislation comes into effect.

“The deadlines of completion are not realistic given that the developers have a delay margin. In the present form, the site includes appropriate criteria of information but including analytical parameters will help customers make decisions,” said Knight Frank, branch director, Paramvir Singh Paul.

Unlawful building activity has not been seized either says the market participants.

“Realizing the usefulness of RERA should be worked out by the authorities and industry, from the very beginning. RERA’s primary aim is to protect consumers and to keep developers responsible. But, on the field, illegal construction sprung up, like no city-wide limit,” a developer said.

“No amount of RERA transparency is adequate to maintain consumer confidence, a systemic approach is necessary to re-enforce the market,” said the developer.