Speak up Mumbai | MahaRERA: Making every square foot count

Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Maha RERA) was the first of its kind vigilance authority launched by the Maharashtra government to regulate real estate. Come 1 May, the authority will complete a year. In the span of a year, MahaRERA made headlines as it heard thousands of cases — of which many were amicably settled; while some cases cost builders dearly, some left the home buyers rethink their claims.

However, one significant action taken by the authority that turned many heads was its decision to not hear tenants' in the case of redevelopment of building. It held that tenants of a building under redevelopment are co-promoters, which is why it would not hear their cases.

Another important action taken by MahaRERA has been that of forming two bodies under itself to hear cases respectively. A conciliation forum was formed earlier this year wherein home buyers and developers could approach in order to reconcile, however, if either party still had grievances, they could approach MahaRERA. If either party still had further grievances, they could file a case in the appellate tribunal. In one such case earlier this month, the appellate tribunal asked the secretary of MahaRERA, Vasant Prabhu to initiate action against an architect too. Since MahaRERA deals only with developers and home buyers, this case came as a surprise for the architect forum as well.

Apart from this, MahaRERA, in few of its judgments, has defined various terms and even set the record straight on various aspects — mandating the formation of housing society on part of the developer, considering only a sale agreement in cases of dispute, and several others. According to experts, what makes MahaRERA relatively successful from other state schemes is that everything is online — from project details to complaints, and it is all in the public domain, which has made real estate in Maharashtra transparent and organised.

DNA spoke to home buyers and experts from the real estate sector in the state in order to reflect MahaRERA's overall performance.

VOICES

There are so many problems but we can’t expect that all of them to be solved by one authority. Under the ambit  of MahaRERA, almost 80-90% things have come and in a way it is a good thing. It was harsh insistence for developers as well as for buyers. It was not just developer who has to suffer but everyone had come under the ambit of MahaRERA. We believe it should be rationalised and not one sided(sic). 
—Dhaval Ajmera, Director, Ajmera Realty.

MahaRERA has been a good step and till now there haven’t been much or many complaints against MahaRERA and its functioning. However, the decision of not entertaining the cases related to redevelopment there is a major concern(sic) as most buildings in Mumbai are being redeveloped, this will keep a lot many projects out of its reach. MahaRERA should re-think on this and decide suitably. 
—Arqam Shaikh, Owner, ARC Associates.

MahaRERA has been the biggest success across India – Maharashtra has the largest number of projects registered. The authority is doing its work such that it sets an example for other states. In terms of MahaRERA’s performance, the prognosis so far is good. MahaRERA has brought in transparency and accountability for home buyers, which has enhanced trust and confidence in them. 
—Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, National President, NAREDCO

With RERA implementation, the previously unorganised real estate sector is slowly getting organised. It has brought a lot of transparency and structural process in the sector as every project now needs to be registered and share their construction status on the RERA website every quarter. Home buyers are protected by the regulator in terms of timeliness, possession, no extra cost and charges only as per the carpet area. MahaRERA has brought an overall potential growth in the sector by enhancing professionalism and standardisation. 
 —Rohit Poddar, Managing Director of Poddar Housing and Development.
 
MahaRERA has increased not only developers’ the confidence but also of the end buyers. The real estate market has shown positive signs of revival as various aspects of MahaRERA law have helped build customer confidence in the sector at large. With the overall market moving towards ease of doing business, we are expecting that buyers will relook at the market for investment opportunities as the market is picking up. Since the market is consumer friendly, buyers can invest in luxury and affordable  housing segment owing to great options at prices and good investment returns with time bound possession. 
—Farshid Cooper, Managing Director, Spenta Corporation. 

The Real Estate Regulation & Development Act (RERA) is a landmark legislation poised to catapult the sector into its next phase of growth, laid on the foundation of being transparent, competitive, hassle-free and consumer-centric, which certainly benefits corporate developers like us. 
 —Amit Ruparel, Managing Director, Ruparel Realty.

Implementation of MahaRERA has helped in bringing transparency and providing a unified legal regime for purchase of residential apartments. It has helped in rebalancing the relationship between the builder and buyers. All information regarding the project, layout plans, land status, government approvals, delivery timelines, amenities, details of necessary approvals and more is available under a common platform. 
—Ms Manju Yagnik, Vice-Chairperson, Nahar Group

MahaRERA leadership is trying to be more pragmatic while regulating the real estate sector, so much so that many a times it is being perceived as too soft towards promoters. MahaRERA’s  top most concern appears to promote the real estate sector.
—Shirish Deshpande, Chairman, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat.

EXPERT SPEAK

MahaRERA is the revolution to make informal real estate industry a very formal one. Rationalisation of real estate transaction process in entire industry has made cost of acquisition predictable. Projects will be completed in time and there will be a custodian of faith in regulator authority. Since its inception, RERA has satisfied hundreds and thousands of flats buyers who were looping in dark and were running pillar to post get their dream home. I think great time ahead for real estate industry under the umbrella of regulatory reforms in form of RERA.
—Adv Sanjay Chaturvedi, Housing and Legal Expert

MahaRera has been successful in breaking the casual approaches of the builders towards flat purchasers.  It has helped the industry in achieving transparency. Winds of change have already started blowing. Due to Maharera builders are forced to from Cooperative Housing Society in a shorter span of time. Flat purchasers can see a light of hope in the nature of quick judgments.
—Adv Vinod Sampat, Housing and Legal Expert