MahaRERA invokes clause to extend registration validity of projects

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA), following the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, invoked the force majeure clause to extend the completion date of registration validity of projects, of which the amended completion date and extended completion date expires by six months, after or on April 15, 2021. The property builders in Maharashtra would get additional six months to complete their projects. For the projects that were to be finished before April 15, 2021, automatic expansion would not be available. The impact of the second was more than in 2020. The construction of projects suffered, and due to the non-availability of labour and limited movement of building materials, project sites appeared to be at a standstill, mainly in Maharashtra. Niranjan Hiranandani, national president of Naredco (National Real Estate Development Council), told the media that after the lockdown from April 2021, real estate firms, including NAREDCO, required an extension. Hiranandani further informed that the real estate sector underwent many challenges throughout the pandemic, mainly the migration of labourers to their native places and restrictions in the supply chain of construction materials. He said that the extension of force majeure for six months in Maharashtra by MahaRERA is a significant step. The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in 2020 instructed states to increase the registration validity and completion deadlines for projects by six months all over the nation through handling the pandemic as a force majeure event under the Real estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016. MahaRERA increased the registration validity of projects by six months till 14 September 2020. It is the second extension of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) given due to the pandemic and nationwide lockdown. Image Source Also read: UP-RERA nods nine-month extension for project registration