Over the past few months, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has been in the news over its various initiatives. News18 spoke exclusively to MahaRERA chief Ajoy Mehta over the efforts to change its image from a slow-moving regulatory body to an aggressive watchdog.
“Our aim is to ensure buyers are not forced to resort to litigation, as the most common complaint we get is of projects not being completed in time. There is a legislation which provides the regulator enough power to keep a check on a project regularly. As the regulatory authority, we are conducting the exercise regularly. Every quarter, we take details of projects, so that if needed, we can take corrective actions. We are aggressive in monitoring projects,” Mehta explained.
ON CHEATING IN INTERIORS OF MAHA
When asked about how the MahaRERA is dealing with more number of builders in the interiors of Maharashtra fleecing investors compared to urban areas, Mehta said, “There is a small percentage of delinquent builders who thought they could get away with anything. But the best way is to check everything from day one. Make the builder aware that we are keeping an eye on them and there are provisions in the act. We also make buyers aware of what they will be getting in the project. We are educating them about what they should look for while purchasing a house.”
ON PENDENCY
The MahaRERA chief admits that there is pendency and approximately 7,000 cases are still pending with the regulatory.
“We are short of members. The law allows us to have three members, but as of now, we are operating with two. Once a third member comes in, the pendency will go down. We have to also see that cases are not be filed. You may call it a Utopian dream, but I have a dream that people shouldn’t have to fight for a house. To achieve that, we should have good oversight. If the project documents are perfect and what is being promised is delivered, complaints won’t get filed. We aim to make our complaint base zero. I know it is difficult to achieve, as there are people who will file litigation and there will be a set of people who are delinquent. As we tighten the noose, the number of complaints is dropping,” Mehta said.
ON EXAM FOR AGENTS
MahaRERA recently made all property agents take an exam. MahaRERA is the first regulator in the country to have such an exam for agents.
“We are of the opinion that agents play a very important role as they are transaction advisors. Being a transaction advisor, the first thing one should know is what a transaction is. After the introduction of RERA, this sector has become more organised and structured. So agents should also know what they are advising. They should know concepts such as RERA carpet area. Disputes start from this point, where a buyer says I was promised something else, but have got something else. If the agent has got knowledge of such things, it will ultimately help the buyers.”
Mehta further added: “Purchasing a house is one of the key decisions of life. At least 90-95% Indians buy one house which they call their dream house. But someone has to educate them about that house, hence we feel it is the agent who should educate the buyers.”
ON 80 PROJECTS BEING DE-REGISTERED
Recent news reports show that MahaRERA plans to de-register projects of 80 developers.
“The law clearly says that if you advertise a project and sell it, you must register it with RERA. We have found that a lot of projects were registered with us, but there is no development on it in the past few years. We found there are reasons why such projects are not moving. A few have got financial issues, a few are stuck for permissions and some have internal disputes. So we decided to de-register such projects, as we don’t want to spend our time monitoring them when there is no progress. In case there is a buyer in such a project, then he has to be settled first. It is one of the conditions we put before de-registering projects.”
ON NON-COMPLIANCE
Buyers often complain that developers don’t comply with RERA orders.
“It was the scenario earlier. But once we pass a refund order, a warrant is issued against the developer to a collector for recovery. We ask the collector to take charge of the property, sell it and make payment to the buyer. But all this needs time. We have to follow the procedure. We found that there was neglect in certain places, so we have got additional collectors and they are following up with collectors. This move had paid dividends as in the past few months, we have recovered approximately Rs 100 crore. We are happy with the progress. In the coming days, we will see that RERA orders will be followed aggressively,” Mehta said.
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