What is MahaRERA?
When it comes to investing in real estate or any other type of asset, the presence of a regulatory body is crucial. Such a body is responsible for overseeing and regulating the activities of developers, agents, and promoters to ensure transparency, accountability, financial discipline, and prompt dispute resolution, all while prioritizing the interests of homebuyers and allottees. Recognizing this need, the Government of India introduced the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, which came into full effect on May 1, 2017.
Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, each state and union territory is required to establish its own regulatory body to oversee the real estate sector. In line with this mandate, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) was created in 2017 to act as the regulatory authority for Maharashtra. To date, all states and union territories have implemented their respective RERA rules, with the exception of Nagaland, which is currently in the process of finalizing its regulations.
MahaRERA follows the 3 T’s objective: Transparency, Trust, and Timely project completion.
Transparency
MahaRERA mandates that developers provide detailed information about their projects, including layout plans, approvals, timelines, and financial details. Developers are required to provide status updates about their projects on the MahaRERA portal so that buyers are informed regarding the progress of the projects.
Moreover, all real estate projects and agents must register with MahaRERA. This registration ensures that only verified entities can operate in the market, reducing the risk of fraud and ensuring that consumers are dealing with legitimate developers and brokers.
Trust
A key issue in this sector is the trust between the promoter and the consumer. To address this, MahaRERA safeguards consumers by ensuring stringent regulatory compliance, defending buyer rights, and fostering market trust. Promoters must deposit 70% of the money received from sales into a specified bank account. The remaining 30% may be retained by the promoter to cover administrative costs. This provides consumers with financial security. Furthermore, MahaRERA keeps developers accountable by imposing severe fines for noncompliance or fraud, discouraging unethical behavior and ensuring agreements are met. By building consumer trust, developers establish an improved market reputation, which directly affects their business.
Timely Project Completion
MahaRERA addresses project delays by requiring stringent adherence to schedules, including fines and compensation for noncompliance. It simplifies approval processes to eliminate bureaucratic delays, benefiting both developers and purchasers by ensuring that projects are completed on schedule. Additionally, MahaRERA provides a comprehensive, timely online dispute resolution process, which quickly handles consumer complaints and fosters a more dependable market environment.
The three Ts of MahaRERA are critical to transforming Maharashtra’s real estate sector into a more dependable and consumer-friendly marketplace. By enforcing strict standards and supporting ethical practices, MahaRERA has established trust among buyers and investors. Its accomplishments include tracking about ₹8 lakh crore of investment in the real estate sector and creating about 40 lakh job opportunities in Maharashtra. As MahaRERA adheres to these principles, it paves the way for a stronger, transparent, and trustworthy real estate ecosystem in Maharashtra.
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