COVID-19: MahaRERA extends completion deadline for real estate projects by 3 months

With all construction activities coming to a standstill following the nationwide lockdown, state real estate regulator MahaRERA on Thursday allowed extension of deadline for completion of all registered under-construction real estate projects by three months.

According to an order issued on Thursday, all MahaRERA registered projects where completion date, revised completiondate or extended completion date expires on or after March 15, 2020, the period of validity for registration of such projects has been extended by three months.

"In view of the complete lockdown, the construction work in MahaRERA registered projects has been severely affected. The supply chains for obtaining construction material have also been disrupted and labour work force may have migrated back to their home states.

"As a result, these real estate projects across Maharashtra will take some time to restart work," MahaRERA Secretary Vasant Prabhu said in the order.

Noting that RBI has also allowed banks to provide a three-month moratorium on fixed-term loans and EMI payments, the order said MahaRERA has decided to allow extension of completion deadlines by three months.

"In order to aid government efforts in controlling the damage of COVID-19 andensure that completion of MahaRERA registered projects does not get adversely affected, the authority has decided to allow the extension of three months.

"MahaRERA will alsoissue project registration certificates, with revisedtimelines for such projects, at the earliest," Prabhu said in the order.

The order comes as a major relief for developers who have been seeking extension for project completion timelines.

Developers' body Credai had sought declaring COVID-19 as force majeure under Section 6 of RERA.

"The 'force majeure' provision provides that registration granted to promoters may be extended. Therefore, project completion time and exemption from penal charges should be extended by a year," it had said.

Naredco President Niranjan Hiranandani had also sought lifting of lockdown on construction workers to complete the ongoing projects.

"The worry is the damage that incomplete and unfinished work across construction sites will cause, as also time that will be lost. Consider that the monsoon sets in a couple of months, with obvious impact not to mention home seekers staring at a long delay in getting their homes.

"Given this situation, the option of allowing construction sites to return to activity, obviously with safety measures being strictly implemented, is one that needs to be considered by the authorities," he had said.

As per the order,the time limits of all statutory compliances in accordance with RERA and the rules and regulations madethereunder, which were due in March, April and May are extended to June 30, 2020.