MahaRERA's contradictory orders add confusion

Adding to the confusion of homebuyers and owners, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has passed two contradictory orders. While in a case last year, the MahaRERA said a building which was already occupied did not need to be registered with the authority even if it had not received an Occupation Certification, last week, they said a building that was occupied without an OC needed to be registered.

If the recent order is considered, thousands of buildings which haven't received OC will have to register with MahaRERA.

In the case from last year, the complaint was by filed by Sejal Gandhi against Jayant Mehta. The complainant had alleged that the Kamala Vihar CHS building in Kandivali west was not registered with MahaRERA, though it had not received an OC. The authority had dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, however, they had said that the building did not need to be registered if it was occupied.

On February 5, the authority said that every project that was ongoing/incomplete on the date of commencement of the Real Estate Act and for which the OC had not been issued was eligible for registration. The authority gave the order while hearing a case where the complainant who had bought an apartment in Angel Hill in Dahbole, Pune, claimed that the builder had not registered the property though he had yet to get an OC. In this case, the authority fined the developer Rs 50,000 and asked him to get his project registered. They further said the authority could take suo-motu cognizance of the matter in case of violation.