MUMBAI: Home buyers and advocates are facing challenges accessing information on projects currently suspended on the MahaRERA website. Upon attempting to retrieve project details, they encounter a message indicating the project is in abeyance and that associated bank accounts are frozen.
Critical information including completion dates, occupancy certificates, approval status, and previous orders is unavailable to home buyers.
Advocates argue that without public access to important documents like Form 4, project approvals, and historical MahaRERA or appellate orders, home buyers may struggle to seek legal remedies. Nonetheless, MahaRERA representatives stated that home buyers can request project information directly via email.
“A home buyer reached out to me regarding a delay in receiving the flat with an occupancy certificate. While attempting to gather relevant project details and MahaRERA orders to support my complaint, the website indicated that the project is suspended. Typically, all project-related orders are accessible online for home buyers’ benefit,” commented Advocate Godfrey Pimenta.
Pimenta has raised this issue with the state housing department, emphasizing that Section 4(2)(l) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) obliges developers and regulators to publicly disclose all project-related information. He highlighted that while MahaRERA has frozen the project, it has not ensured continued access for potential complainants.
A MahaRERA official clarified that details about projects that are lapsed can still be accessed. “Only information on projects currently in abeyance is restricted from the website. We can provide those details upon request from a home buyer. Projects are placed in abeyance due to non-compliance, which includes failure to update progress. After an official notice, a grace period is granted, after which registration is temporarily halted, and their website access is blocked, along with the freezing of bank accounts. We ensure no new registrations occur for these projects. The restriction of details is intended to protect home buyers,” the official stated.
The Watchdog Foundation has called for the MahaRERA portal to restore public access to all non-sensitive project information while maintaining any regulatory freezes.
