The regulatory authority had issued 1,053 warrants to recover ₹627.70 crore from developers for delay in the handing over of the apartments, with a warning to freeze their bank accounts and attach assets. It has since initiated recovery against 190 developers.
This is one of the highest recoveries executed by any real estate regulator in the country.
MahaRERA has recovered more than ₹4.71 crore from a single real estate developer in Nagpur.
Real estate regulators issue recovery orders against developers who have failed to hand over possession of properties to homebuyers. District collectors are responsible for the execution of the warrants.
However, many of these orders are not being complied with. Homebuyers and their associations have been raising concerns over non-enforcement of these orders.
In May, ET was first to report that in a bid to ensure protection to homebuyers, the central government had decided to assess the reasons for non-compliance of orders issued by the regulatory authorities set up under the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016.
“Despite the orders getting served, homebuyers are left in lurch as the enforcement of these orders is taking unreasonable time. The housing minister himself suggested this move to form a committee to study the procedure followed by states that rank high in enforcement of RERA orders,” Abhay Upadhyay, president of the Forum for People’s Collective Efforts, had told ET at the time.
According to him, the Maharashtra regulator’s move would provide a template for other states to follow so that RERA orders see faster execution and homebuyers receive time-bound justice.
The central government may also seek state governments to provide their inputs in this matter with an objective of making RERA more effective and offering an impactful recourse mechanism to homebuyers. The decision to this effect was made at a meeting of the Central Advisory Council.
MahaRERA is also in the process of submitting a proposal to the central government for amendments to improvise the current provisions to make the RERA stronger for the execution of recovery warrants.
