Mumbai: In a move aimed at safeguarding homebuyers’ interests and ensuring smoother execution of real estate projects, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has integrated its system with 481 planning authorities across the state to enable online verification of Commencement Certificates (CCs). Maharashtra has 481 planning authorities that issue construction-related permissions.
Until now, verification of CCs submitted for MahaRERA registration was largely limited, as only the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai had an online system that allowed direct verification. For projects falling under other planning authorities, CCs had to be sent to a dedicated MahaRERA email ID, often leading to delays in processing and issuance of registration numbers.
The decision to integrate the website was taken following the issue of fake CCs coming to light in November 2022, when MahaRERA revoked around 64 projects in the jurisdiction of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) after the civic body’s town-planning department informed the regulator that commencement certificates for these projects had not been issued by it. The action revealed that developers had submitted forged documents to secure registrations.
MahaRERA subsequently barred these developers from advertising or marketing the projects and sealed their bank accounts, restricting them from accepting bookings or collecting money from homebuyers. According to a senior MahaRERA official, the integration of all 481 planning authorities with the MahaRERA platform has now addressed this bottleneck. Approved plans and commencement certificates are available online.
The official said the move has significantly reduced turnaround time for registrations and helped curb the possibility of irregularities or fraudulent submissions. As per Section 4 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, promoters are required to submit authenticated copies of approvals and commencement certificates obtained from the competent authority, along with sanctioned plans, layout plans and project specifications, at the time of registration with MahaRERA.
To get details on exclusive and budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai & surrounding regions, do visit: https://budgetproperties.in/
