MahaRERA recently released a circular making it compulsory for promoters to render certificates from architects, chartered accountants and engineers to the banks and with copies to the real estate regulatory authority before removing any amount realised from the home allottees noting that the withdrawal is in proportion to the percentage of work achieved. The amount realised from allottees are deposited in a separate account. MahaRERA will upload the certificates rendered by the engineer and the architect on its website for the advantage of the home buyer. Homebuyers will get to know the exact project status, like the amount of work attained and costs incurred, among other things. Earlier, the promoter had to get the certificates, but they were only required to render a self-declaration to the bank. The promoters are additionally needed to obtain their separate account audited within six months after the end of every financial year by a chartered accountant and have to create a statement of accounts duly certified and inked by the chartered accountant. The audit will confirm that the amounts accumulated for a specific project have been used for the project and that the withdrawal complies with the proportion to the percentage of work finished. The new regulation applies to both new projects as well as ongoing projects. Promoters under sub-section (2)(l) D of section 4 of the Act are needed to deposit 70% of the money that has been accumulated for the real estate project from the allottees, in a separate account in a scheduled bank, to cover the cost of construction, the land price and the amount so deposited can be utilised only for that objective. To guarantee that the withdrawal is in proportion to the percentage of work achieved on the project, the promoter requires to present certificates from the architect, engineer and the chartered accountant to MahaRERA, apart from the bank, at the time of every withdrawal till the occupancy/ or completion certificate is obtained for the project. The 2017 circular of the MahaRERA had enabled the promoter to only provide a self-declaration every quarter, rather than presenting these three certificates on each withdrawal to the bank. Advocate Anil D Souza, secretary of the MahaRERA Bar Association, told the media that MahaRERA has not just brought in more transparency into the financial aspect of the project management but additionally propelled greater accountability on promoters, along with the Architect, Engineer and CA certifying every stage. Image Source Also read: MahaRERA asks realtors to declare mortgage of housing projects