Cidco violates MahaRera rules; advertises housing projects

In a major violation of MahaRera norms by a state agency, Navi Mumbai town planning authority Cidco has advertised its recently launched housing projects without registering them with Rera.

City-based consumer body Mumbai Grakah Panchayat (MGP) has filed a complaint with the MahaRera seeking to penalise Cidco for advertising 11 housing projects without registering with the regulator and not mentioning the registration numbers of the ones registered on the advertisements.

In a letter to MahaRera chief Gautam Chatterjee, MGP has alleged that out of the 11 housing projects advertised in newspapers and marketed on its website, only two located in Ghansoli are registered.

"In spite of there being no MahaRera registration for these nine projects, they are also being prominently advertised, marketed, with photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, which is in gross violation of section 3(1) of Rera," MGP said in the letter.

When contacted, a Cidco spokesperson told PTI, "Yes, we had not mentioned the registration numbers in the advertisements. But we have already got registration numbers for four projects in total, including those in Ghansoli and Dronagiri. We have applied for registration for the remaining projects and will get them soon."
Meanwhile, seeking imposition of penalty on Cidco, MGP chairman Shirish Despande said, "We expect the government development authorities like these (Cidco) to be more diligent and careful in discharge of their obligations/duties under Rera. If private promoters and real estate agents could be penalised by MahaRera for similar violation, the same law must also apply to Cidco in this case."