Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, has decided to scrap the two-fold rent hike for close to 24,000 families living in rental homes owned by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) in south and central Mumbai. This decision has come as a significant relief to many economically backward families who were finding it difficult to pay the increased rent. Fadnavis has also announced an amnesty scheme for those families who have not paid rent and have been sent notices to pay rent along with a penalty and interest over the due amount.Read more

The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to auction open land in the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) limits in order to expedite works in the Amaravati region. The state government plans to sell about fourteen acres of land in the first phase and may auction more land in the next phase depending on the response to the auction of land in the first phase. The land will be auctioned through an e-auction portal.Read more

The Indian Finance Ministry has revised the definition of "beneficial owner" under its anti-money laundering law, requiring reporting entities like banks and crypto platforms to collect more detailed information about their clients. According to the amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Rules, any individual or group holding at least 10% ownership in a client of a reporting entity will be considered a beneficial owner, down from the previous threshold of 25%.Read more

The Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) is introducing an 'Assured Allotment Scheme' (AAS) as part of its Sector 53 housing scheme. Under the AAS, 30 of the total 340 flats on offer will be reserved and allotted through a bidding process. The AAS has been designed for people who want assured allotment and are willing to pay a higher price than the prescribed amount in the scheme. The top 10 bidders in the 3BHK category and the top 20 bidders in the 2BHK category will be assured of allotment.Read more

The Indore Development Authority (IDA) has identified a total of 1,820 flats in its different apartments complexes that it intends at the market rate prevalent in 2020. These apartments were ready in 2020 before the Covid-19 outbreak, but no tend was invited to sell them because they have been lying vacant. The authority has thus issued a tender inviting bid for these flats along with newly constructed apartments in Amaltas Highrise Building located in its Scheme 136.Read more

The Telangana High Court has recently taken up an appeal filed by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) against Ramky Integrated Township Limited. The dispute between the two organizations arose when a single judge ordered the Maheshwaram sub-registrar in Rangareddy district to allow registration of villas and apartments at Ramky's Discovery City. The high court bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji heard the appeal and stayed the single judge's order.Read more

Piramal Capital and Housing Finance's application for insolvency proceedings against Mumbai-based real estate firm Prithvi Residency has been admitted by a bankruptcy court. The realtor had failed to pay over INR 850 crore in dues to the mortgage lender DHFL, which was later acquired by Piramal through an insolvency auction. The dues amount includes the principal amount and accrued interest.Read more

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) is facing criticism from citizen groups due to its slow handling of complaints. With over 6,000 complaints pending, citizens are demanding faster disposal of cases and the appointment of more adjudicating members to hear the pending cases at the earliest. As per the RERA Act, a solution must be found within 60 days of filing a complaint. However, presently it takes 18-24 months to receive an order. After the order, execution takes nearly one-and-a-half years, thus defeating the purpose of RERA.Read more

The new set of CRZ rules introduced in January 2019 has caused much confusion and concerns in the state of Kerela. To address the problems arising from it, the government set up Kerela Coastal Zone Management Authority to create a coastal zone management plan (CZMP) with detailed maps outlining which areas fell under which CRZ category and the associated restrictions. However, its been three years and counting and the public is yet to have access to these maps. Further, the Kerela Coastal Zone Management Authority disbanded in October 2022 and has not yet reconstituted.Read more

As part of a recent independent investigation, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) discovered over 1,700 cases where the same designated bank account details can be linked to multiple projects, a clear violation of the RERA Act 2016. The regulator has issued notices to forty-five projects and plans to send more in the coming days. The notices seek details of the total units in each project, units sold, receipts, and withdrawals from the bank account. The notice also seeks a formal explanation for why the same bank account details have been used for multiple projects.Read more