Set realistic deadlines to hand over homes, MahaRERA tells builders

According to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, developers have to specify the possession date as any delay invites penal action, which is one of the reasons why developers look to push back deadlines.

Builders who have deliberately pushed ahead dates to hand over apartments could be in trouble as the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has recently ruled that the possession date of an ongoing project should be corresponding to the pending work.

Representational image (Bloomberg)

According to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act that came into effect in Maharashtra on May 1, 2017, developers have to specify the possession date as any delay invites penal action, which is one of the reasons why developers look to push back deadlines.

The latest order was in reference to a complaint filed by Gopi Eashwar Iyer, who has booked an apartment in Virar, where the date of possession specified was March 2016.

Despite the occupation certificate (OC) being obtained on January 14 this year, the builder had set a revised date for completion in its MahaRera registration as December 2020.

“The respondent should have completed the said project by May 2018. As the OC has been obtained by the respondent, during the pendency of the present complaint, the respondent shall immediately hand over the possession of the said apartment to the complainant. The respondent shall be liable to pay interest to the complainant from June 1, 2018 up to the date of receipt of the OC,” said the regulator’s order.

Housing activist Ramesh Prabhu said builders will now be more realistic in setting deadlines. “This will benefit homebuyers who have been manipulated by builders. MahaRERA has brought discipline in the real estate sector to some extent,” said Prabhu.

For years, some builders have been setting unrealistic deadlines for buyers and not handing over flats on time. Despite delays, there were no punishments against such builders.