The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has taken suo motu action against 628 housing projects across the state for not displaying registration number as well as QR code in the advertising materials.
Collectively, these projects have been penalised ₹88.90 lakh, of which ₹72.35 lakh has been recovered so far.
Of the total projects, 312 are from the Mumbai region, 250 from the Pune region and 66 from the Nagpur region.
The Mumbai region includes Mumbai, Mumbai suburban, Thane, Nashik and Konkan. These 312 projects faced penalties of ₹54.25 lakh, of which ₹41.50 lakh has been recovered. The Pune region covers Pune city, western Maharashtra and Marathwada.
Here, action has been initiated against 250 projects with the consolidated penalty amount levied at ₹28.30 lakh and ₹24.75 lakh already recovered. There were 66 projects in the Nagpur region comprising all the districts of Vidarbha. A total of ₹6.35 lakh penalty was imposed on the violators and ₹6.10 lakh has been recovered, so far.
To keep one’s investment secured, MahaRERA appeals to homebuyers not to engage in transactions with housing projects without the mandatory RERA registration number.
“Promoters of housing projects are not permitted to advertise their projects without a MahaRERA registration number. Starting August 1, 2023, it is also mandatory to display QR code with every advertisement. This enables homebuyers to access project related important information,” said MahaRERA Chairman, Ajoy Mehta.
“Despite this, some developers are violating these guidelines. Therefore, MahaRERA is always on the lookout for such advertisements and regularly initiates action against the violators,” he added.
For effective implementation of guidelines and to identify violators, MahaRERA takes assistance from the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
As per RERA, it is binding for any project in Maharashtra that exceeds 500 square meters or involves more than eight apartments (including plots) to be registered with MahaRERA. No marketing activities or sales in such housing projects are permitted without securing registration number from the MahaRERA.