The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has decided to impose hefty fines on developers over delay in obtaining Occupancy Certificate (OC) clearance. A senior official from the MHADA Mumbai Board said, "The intention is to expedite the OC clearance process. It has been observed after completing the construction of a building, the developer fails to obtain OC, eventually delaying the possession of houses to the tenants. Several complaints have been received from tenants of redevelopment buildings who are unable to get possession of their houses."
Tired of waiting for OC for a long time, the owner many times takes forceful possession of their property. Besides, residents of buildings without OC are to pay hefty charges. Therefore, MHADA has decided to take stringent action against such developers who have delayed obtaining OC.
The official furthermore informed that developers who carried out redevelopment of old dilapidated buildings and failed to get required OC will be fined Rs 250 per square metre. In the case of houses that are sold in lottery schemes with no OC from the developers, Rs 500 per square metre fine will be taken. This action is believed to force builders/developers to fulfill the criteria for obtaining OC clearance in a bid to avoid hefty penalty.
Reportedly, the Mumbai MHADA board has been given the status of planning authority by the then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis government. The status was affiliated to expedite the process of the redevelopment of old dilapidated buildings in 56 colonies spread over 114 layouts. The redevelopment of such colonies will provide new houses to the original tenants besides creating new housing stock for lottery schemes.
Vinod Ghosalkar, chairman of the Mumbai Building Repairs and Redevelopment Board (MBRRB) said, "People have to suffer due to no OC clearance obtained by developers obstructing their shifting. They have to stay in a rented house/transit flats for several years. I hope by levying hefty fines from such developers will resolve this long pending issue.”