MUMBAI: Despite pressure from the builders lobby to repeal the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act (MOFA), 1963, the housing department is in the process of making the Act more stringent in the interest of housing societies. To this end, an amendment has been proposed to bring in the provision of deemed conveyance for housing projects registered under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) in order to help hundreds of flat owners and societies who are deprived of conveyance by developers.
The housing department has proposed to amend MOFA by bringing the conveyance deed provision in the RERA Act under it. Although buildings constructed prior to 2016, when RERA was enacted, are eligible for deemed conveyance, buildings constructed after RERA came into force have no such protection. The amendment will help new buildings constructed after 2016 to get ownership of the land.
A housing society is provided deemed conveyance of its land via a legal process when the builder fails to provide conveyance within the legal time frame. Flat owners in buildings that do not have ownership of the land on which they are built can face problems, especially when it comes to redevelopment of the buildings.
“RERA does not have a provision of deemed conveyance where the builder has to compulsorily hand over conveyance within three months of getting an occupation certificate,” said a Mantralaya official. “Many projects completed under the RERA Act in the last decade have not received conveyance and are not qualified for deemed conveyance. Unlike MOFA, RERA has no provision of criminal action against developers, resulting in many developers not complying with its mandates.”
The housing department has sent the proposal to the law and judiciary department, and once approved, the amendment is expected to be tabled in the state legislature. Another official said that since RERA, being a central Act, cannot be amended, the amendment has been proposed in MOFA.
Former housing secretary Sitaram Kunte said that the proposed amendment was a welcome move, as it would bring respite to thousands of flat owners. “There is no provision in the RERA Act to deal with the conveyance deed, and bringing it into the ambit of MOFA is the need of the hour,” he said. “There should be a provision for deemed conveyance even for RERA-registered properties, as it will be needed all across the country in future too. The provision for deemed conveyance in MOFA was done during my tenure as housing secretary, and even at that time it was opposed by the builder lobby.”
Kunte said that RERA was a central act and steps to safeguard the interests of RERA-registered properties needed to be taken. “When RERA was first envisaged under MOFA by us in the 2000s, it was opposed by the builder lobby,” he said.
Pankaj Kapoor, MD of Liases Foras Real Estate Rating & Research Pvt Ltd, said that the proposal would safeguard the interest of flat owners and societies. “Once a building receives an occupation certificate, the developers are out of the purview of RERA,” he said. “This means that deemed conveyance for such projects becomes difficult under RERA, and even builders are reluctant to give conveyance or deemed conveyance to keep their rights intact. The proposed amendment in MOFA will be beneficial for societies.”
The housing department has also opposed the demand of repealing MOFA, and an affidavit in this respect was submitted by the department in 2023.