How do I file a RERA complaint in Maharashtra against a builder (MahaRERA)?

• Delayed possession: Interest at MCLR+2% from the RERA-registered date, or full refund + interest.
• Construction defects: Within 5 years of possession; builder must rectify within 30 days.
• Misrepresentation: Amenities promised in brochure/approved plan not delivered.
• Non-registration: Builder selling a project above 500 sq m or 8 units without RERA registration.
• Non-execution of registered agreement: Builder collecting booking amounts without executing a registered sale agreement.

MahaRERA has a built-in conciliation mechanism — most disputes are resolved at this stage before formal adjudication.

1. Register at maharera.maharashtra.gov.in → Complaint Registration → sign up with Aadhaar/PAN.
2. Search and confirm the project's RERA registration number and registered completion date.
3. Draft complaint: chronological facts, payments made, possession date promised, relief sought (interest amount / refund / rectification).
4. Upload: allotment letter, registered sale agreement, payment receipts, demand letters, defect photographs if applicable.
5. Pay ₹5,000 online; keep receipt.
6. Receive complaint number; attend conciliation hearing (typically within 30 days).
7. If conciliation fails, matter proceeds to adjudicating officer for a formal order.

Delay interest: SBI MCLR + 2% per annum from the day after the RERA-registered possession date to actual possession (or refund date).

Example: ₹75 lakh flat; SBI MCLR 8.5% → interest rate 10.5%; 2-year delay → interest owed ₹15.75 lakh.

For refund: MahaRERA typically grants full amount paid + interest, especially where possession is delayed more than 1 year beyond the RERA date with no credible completion timeline. Force majeure under RERA is interpreted narrowly.

Builder has 60 days to comply. If not:

• Recovery Certificate issued to District Collector — recovery as land revenue arrears, including attachment and auction of builder's assets and RERA-designated receivables.
• Penalty: up to 10% of project cost under Section 63 of RERA.
• Imprisonment: continued non-compliance under Section 70 of RERA.

Appeals: builder or buyer can appeal to MREAT within 60 days; further appeal to the Bombay High Court.

MahaRERA is the only Indian RERA authority with a formalised standalone Conciliation and Dispute Resolution Forum. Every complaint is referred there before formal adjudication, making conciliation the practical first stage for most Mumbai and Maharashtra homebuyers.

How it works:

1. After filing and paying ₹5,000, the complaint is forwarded to the Conciliation Forum within 14 days.
2. A conciliation hearing is scheduled, typically within 30 days. Both parties appear; advocates are not formally required but may attend.
3. The conciliator — jointly nominated by consumer and builder associations — facilitates a settlement. Builders frequently settle at this stage to avoid a public adjudication record on the MahaRERA portal.
4. Settled: A consent order is recorded and the complaint is closed. Enforceable exactly like a formal order.
5. Not settled: The matter moves to formal adjudication before the MahaRERA adjudicating officer for a formal written order.

How to prepare for conciliation: Bring a clear tabular summary of payments (date, amount, receipt number), the RERA-registered possession date, and a calculated interest figure (MCLR+2% from the day after the due possession date to today). A well-documented, specific claim settles faster. Know your minimum acceptable outcome — a defined new possession date with a penalty clause, or a refund amount with timeline.

For large stalled Mumbai-region projects where dozens or hundreds of buyers face identical delays, collective action at MahaRERA amplifies enforcement pressure and signals systemic non-compliance to the Authority.

Joint complaint filing: MahaRERA accepts complaints from multiple co-complainants for the same project issue. Each complainant pays ₹5,000. A group complaint from 30–50 buyers is treated as a project-level matter and typically receives priority scheduling.

Housing society complaints: A cooperative housing society (registered under MCS Act) or residents' association can file on behalf of members for: non-handover of common areas; missing amenities (club, parking, garden) shown in the RERA-registered approved plan; corpus fund and advance maintenance collected but not transferred to the society; and defects in common infrastructure not rectified within the 5-year RERA warranty window.

MahaRERA suo motu action: Builders must file quarterly project updates on the MahaRERA portal. If a builder stops filing updates, MahaRERA may initiate suo motu proceedings against the project. Buyers can accelerate this by filing a complaint specifically about missed quarterly filings. Project monitoring orders published on the portal apply to all buyers in the project, not just those who filed a complaint.

Where MahaRERA has issued a Recovery Certificate but the builder has no reachable assets, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) provides a separate and more powerful mechanism.

Homebuyers as financial creditors: The Supreme Court in Pioneer Urban Land v. Union of India (2019) confirmed that homebuyers with allotment letters and payments made are financial creditors under Section 5(8)(f) of the IBC. A group of 100 or more homebuyers (or those holding at least 10% of total homebuyer financial debt for that project) can file an insolvency petition at NCLT, Mumbai Bench against the builder-company.

What happens in CIRP: An Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) is appointed to take over the builder's assets. The Committee of Creditors (CoC) — which includes homebuyers as a class, with voting rights proportional to their admitted claims — evaluates resolution plans from new developers willing to complete the project. Failing a viable plan, the NCLT orders liquidation of the builder's assets.

IBC and RERA are concurrent: Filing an IBC petition does not require withdrawing the RERA complaint. A MahaRERA order establishes and quantifies the debt; the IBC creates a process to recover it through the builder's assets or a new developer taking over completion. Many Maharashtra homebuyers pursue both simultaneously.