Boban John
PUNE: All pending Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) recovery warrant cases would be disposed of within three months, state revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule announced earlier this week.
The latest data from MahaRERA reveals that only 316 recovery warrant complaints out of a total of 1,342 in the state have been executed by the collectorates.
Mumbai suburban and Pune district account for more than 60% of the outstanding recovery amount. “We are committed to expediting the resolution process and ensuring justice for homebuyers,” Bawankule told the Legislative Council while responding to concerns raised by MLC Niranjan Davkhare.
The government aims to expedite the remaining cases and ensure the recovery of funds for affected homebuyers within three months, Bawankule said.
According to official data, Mumbai suburban district tops the list with 540 complaints amounting to Rs 424.79 crore, of which only Rs 80.49 crore has been recovered so far. The balance amount pending recovery in Mumbai suburban stands at Rs 344.30 crore. Pune district follows closely with 274 complaints across 140 projects worth Rs 219.71 crore. Authorities managed to recover just Rs 42.31 crore from 37 projects addressing 62 complaints, leaving Rs 177.40 crore still to be recovered. “We have already reached out to the collectors to speed up the process,” stated a MahaRERA official.
Recovery warrants are issued under Section 40(1) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act against errant developers. The warrants are forwarded to collectors for attachment of properties and recovery of dues.
The latest data shows that only 316 recovery warrant complaints were cleared out of a total of 1,342 complaints in the state. With just 23.5% of cases executed, the total amount recovered was Rs 214.21 crore of a total Rs 985.23 crore.
MahaRERA officials told TOI that they are following up with all collectors to speed up the execution of recovery warrant cases.
Activists feel that while the minister’s announcement may give momentum to speed up the cases, three months are too short to resolve cases that have been pending for three to four years.
Activist Ramesh Prabhu said that while the announcement would help aggrieved homebuyers, there is a need to track all recovery warrant orders minutely. “In UP RERA, the recovery warrant orders are minutely tracked on a portal. MahaRERA should have a dashboard and replicate the same. A vague statement of three months will not help; phase-wise recovery warrant execution should be in the system. An SOP should be in place rather than just a mere political statement,” he told TOI.
Arun Sheth from Mumbai suburban area said that he has been waiting for the last four years for collectorate officials to execute the recovery warrant. “We are so tired of waiting and there is no progress,” said the senior citizen.
While appointment of retired tehsildars was suggested for Mumbai suburban and Pune to help speed up the clearance of these recovery warrant orders, MahaRERA has been able to appoint only one officer for Mumbai suburban and is yet to appoint someone for Pune district. “We are yet to receive applications for Pune to help speed up the recovery warrant orders,” said an official.
