Real Estate Websites have to register with MahaRERA in next 2 months.

Property Websites that go beyond advertisements and allow developers and home buyers to sell/purchase must be registered with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) within the next two months. The housing authorities have determined that such websites could be defined as real estate agents.

In a recent order, the regulatory officer has indicated that portals performing the role of a real estate agent must, within two months, register with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRera).

In its judgment, MahaRera said, “Portals operating as real estate agents are required to register. These online portals should be registered with MahaRera within two months if their operations are within their territorial jurisdiction.”

In July last year, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, a consumer body, wrote a letter to the chairman of MahaRera pointing out that the operations of property portals was undertaken and sought clarification on the role of agents from the authorities.

The MahaRera bench, which includes its members Vijay Satbir Singh and BD Kapdnis, specified that portals that go beyond mere promotional ads facilitate and make the sale or purchase properties estate for developers or home buyers should register as a real estate agent. The MahaRera subsequently claimed in its comprehensive judgment of 279 pages that these portals are engaged in activities that fall within the real estate agents’ concept.

The portals had stated that the firms’ operations were spread across the whole country and that registration with a certain real estate regulatory authority of a state would be difficult for them. “We note that the portals must register with the property regulator of a state in which they are conducting the activities until registration at the national level is permitted,” said the order.

Moreover, the judgment held that portals that are confined to ads specified in RERA’s section 2(b) do not need to be registered as property agents, given that they announce that they are only publicity agencies and advise viewers to cross-examine information from other sources like RERA Websites.

Commenting on the order, MGP Chairman Shirish Despande said, “This is a landmark decision and we hope that all property portals will embrace this judgment without demur and register with MahaRera. If there is no ambiguity about the intention of Parliament for the regulation of the real estate sector, then the portals will have an extremely significant effect on the purchasing decision of lakhs of home-buyers.