RERA & redevelopment
Complaints before MahaRERA, society redevelopment under the Directive of 4 July 2019, development and permanent alternate accommodation agreements, deemed conveyance and developer disputes — for projects in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.
RERA and redevelopment matters for flat purchasers, housing societies, landowners and developers.
The development agreement and the permanent alternate accommodation agreement fix the carpet area, the corpus, the rent and its escalation, the time for completion and what happens when that time passes. The Directive of 4 July 2019 requires a bank guarantee and registered agreements, and a term left vague at that stage is the term argued about three years later.
Describe your matterThe provisions, the periods and the procedure, in order.
Last reviewed 23 September 2026
RERA, 2016 — ss. 3, 4
Section 3 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 prohibits a promoter from advertising, marketing, booking, selling or offering to sell any plot or apartment in a project without registering it with the Authority. In Maharashtra that Authority is MahaRERA.
Section 3(2) puts some projects outside registration: where the land proposed to be developed does not exceed five hundred square metres, or the number of apartments does not exceed eight inclusive of all phases; where a completion certificate has already been received; and where the work is renovation or repair that does not involve marketing or sale.
A redevelopment project is a real estate project for these purposes. Where a society redevelops and flats are sold to outsiders, the project ordinarily requires registration, and the members' own rehabilitation component is dealt with in the registration as well.
RERA 2016; MCS Act 1960, s. 79A; MOFA 1963; DCPR 2034
Four bodies of law meet in these matters. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 governs registration, disclosure and the promoter's obligations, with MahaRERA as the Authority and the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal above it.
The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 governs the society itself, and the Directive of 4 July 2019 issued under Section 79A governs how a society takes a redevelopment decision. The Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963 governs the promoter's obligations to flat purchasers and conveyance of the land and building.
The Development Control and Promotion Regulations, 2034 govern what may be built — Regulation 33(5) for MHADA layouts, 33(7) for cessed buildings, 33(9) for cluster redevelopment and 33(10) for slum schemes — and a scheme is shaped by which of these it falls under long before any agreement is signed.
RERA, 2016 — ss. 31, 43(5), 58
Section 31 allows any aggrieved person to make a complaint to the Authority or the adjudicating officer for a contravention of the Act or the rules and regulations made under it. A complaint is filed online against a registered project, and the promoter is heard before an order is made.
An appeal lies to the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal within sixty days. The proviso to Section 43(5) requires a promoter appealing an order to deposit at least thirty per cent of the penalty, or such higher amount as the Tribunal may determine, or the total amount to be paid to the allottee including interest and compensation, before the appeal is heard.
A further appeal lies to the High Court under Section 58 within sixty days. An amount ordered and not paid is recoverable as an arrear of land revenue under Section 40, which is the stage at which many of these orders are actually realised.
MCS Act 1960, s. 79A — Directive of 4 July 2019
The Directive of 4 July 2019 replaced the Directive of 3 January 2009 and governs the procedure. A redevelopment proposal begins on a written requisition by members; the managing committee convenes a special general body meeting; and the decision to redevelop, and later the selection of the developer, each require the approval of at least fifty-one per cent of the total membership of the society, with a quorum of two thirds.
Between those two meetings the society appoints an architect or project management consultant from the approved panel, a project report is prepared, tenders are invited, and the bids are placed before the members. An authorised officer of the Registrar attends the meeting at which the developer is selected, and the proceedings are video recorded.
The Directive also requires registered agreements, a bank guarantee from the developer and defined timelines for completion. Where the society has not yet obtained conveyance of the land and building, that is dealt with before or alongside the redevelopment rather than after it.
Deemed conveyance under Section 11 of MOFAMaharashtra Stamp Act 1958; Registration Act 1908
The development agreement between the society and the developer, the power of attorney that accompanies it, and the permanent alternate accommodation agreement with each member are the documents the scheme runs on. All of them are stamped and registered.
The terms that decide most later disputes are the same ones every time: the carpet area to be given and how it is measured, the corpus and when it is paid, the rent for alternate accommodation and its escalation, the shifting and brokerage charges, the time for completion and the extension, the consequence of delay, the bank guarantee and what it may be invoked for, and the amenities and specifications, set out in a schedule rather than described in adjectives.
Where a member does not sign, or where an agreement is sought to be varied after execution, that is a separate question with its own procedure, and what the original agreement says about variation governs it.
RERA, 2016 — s. 18
Section 18 gives the allottee a choice where the promoter fails to complete or is unable to give possession by the date stated in the agreement for sale. The allottee may withdraw from the project and receive the amount paid back, with interest and compensation; or, if he does not intend to withdraw, he is paid interest for every month of delay until possession is handed over.
The rate of interest is prescribed by the State rules, and it is the same rate both ways — the rate the promoter pays on delay is the rate the allottee would pay on a default in payment.
Section 14(3) makes the promoter liable to rectify a structural defect, or a defect in workmanship, quality or provision of service, brought to notice within five years of possession, within thirty days; failing which the allottee is entitled to compensation. Section 19(3) and the agreement together decide when possession is properly offered at all.
RERA, 2016 — ss. 12, 13, 14; s. 7
Section 12 makes a promoter liable where a person makes an advance or a deposit on the faith of an advertisement or prospectus that is false, and the person may withdraw and be returned the amount with interest. Section 13 prohibits taking more than ten per cent of the cost of the apartment as advance without first entering into a registered agreement for sale.
Section 14 requires adherence to the sanctioned plans and project specifications, and prohibits alteration in the sanctioned plans of the building except with the previous written consent of two thirds of the allottees, other than minor additions or alterations.
Where a project stalls, Section 7 allows the Authority to revoke the registration, and Section 8 provides for what follows. Which of these is the right route depends on whether the object is to get the flat, to get the money back, or to have the project carried to completion by someone else.
RERA, 2016 — ss. 4, 11
Section 4 sets out what accompanies an application for registration, including the authenticated copy of the approvals, the sanctioned plan and layout, the proposed plan of development works, and the declaration on affidavit, which includes the undertaking that seventy per cent of the amounts realised from allottees will be deposited in a separate account to cover the cost of construction and the land.
Section 11 requires the promoter to create and maintain the project page on the Authority's website and to update it quarterly — the status of the project, the approvals received and applied for, and the number of apartments booked.
For a society, the corresponding compliance runs the other way: the resolutions, the notices and the minutes have to be in order, because a redevelopment challenged later is challenged on whether the Directive's procedure was followed.
How a RERA or redevelopment matter is run, whichever side it is run from.
Short answers on the points that decide most of these matters.
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 requires a promoter to register a real estate project with the Authority before advertising, marketing, booking or selling in it, to maintain and quarterly update the project page on the Authority's website, to adhere to the sanctioned plans, and to deposit seventy per cent of the amounts realised from allottees in a separate account for the cost of construction and land. In Maharashtra the Authority is MahaRERA.
A complaint is made under Section 31 to the Authority or the adjudicating officer, filed online against the registered project, with the agreement for sale, the payment record and the correspondence in support. An appeal from the order lies to the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal within sixty days, and from the Tribunal to the High Court under Section 58 within sixty days.
Section 18 gives a choice. You may withdraw from the project and be repaid what you have paid, with interest and compensation; or, if you do not wish to withdraw, you are paid interest for every month of delay until possession is handed over. The rate is the one prescribed by the State rules, and it is the same rate that would apply to a default in payment by you.
Under the Directive of 4 July 2019 issued under Section 79A of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, the decision to redevelop and the selection of the developer each require the approval of at least fifty-one per cent of the total membership of the society, at a special general body meeting with a quorum of two thirds. An authorised officer of the Registrar attends the meeting at which the developer is selected, and the proceedings are video recorded.
It depends on which regulation the plot falls under — Regulation 33(5) of the DCPR 2034 for MHADA layouts, 33(7) for cessed buildings, 33(9) for cluster redevelopment and 33(10) for slum schemes — and the approvals follow from that: the intimation of disapproval and commencement certificate, the no-objection certificates the scheme requires, and the occupation certificate at the end. Where the society does not yet hold conveyance of the land, that is dealt with before the scheme proceeds.
A redevelopment project is a real estate project, so it requires registration unless it falls within Section 3(2) — land not exceeding five hundred square metres, or not more than eight apartments inclusive of all phases, or a completion certificate already received, or work that is renovation or repair not involving marketing or sale.
Section 7 allows the Authority to revoke the registration of a project on the grounds stated in it, and Section 8 provides for what follows, including carrying out the remaining development. Alongside that, Section 18 gives each allottee the choice between withdrawing with interest and compensation or remaining and claiming interest for the delay. Which route is taken depends on whether the object is the flat, the money or the completion of the project.
The rest of the work the firm is instructed on.
A question about a project
or a redevelopment?
Say what the project is, what the agreement provides and what stage the work has reached. You will be told what the Act and the regulation require here and what the next step is.
