The Brave Pedestrian

19th May, 2017: There appears to be a widespread campaign to malign Maharashtra's Real Estate Regulatory Authority as being biased in favour of builders, and not in accordance with the central Real Estate Regulation Act, 2016. This is a false story cunningly planted by the builder lobby, intended to deter citizens and flat-buyers from filing complaints against builders. The truth is that MahaRERA, as Maharashtra's Real Estate Regulatory Authority is known, is going to be the most strict taskmaster that builders have ever faced in Independent India! A fun way to understand what I am saying is to watch these two Marathi videos: Gautam Chatterjee & Ramesh Prabhu explain RERA's Effect on Building Industry A Seriously Funny Discussion on RERA with Navi Mumbai Builders It is as if a tsunami has reached the Mumbai coastline, and is about to hit the builders who have been taking not only flat-buyers and investors, but also the whole country for a ride. After this tsu...

Mumbai, 7th April 2017: The deadline date for housing societies of Mumbai to correct BMC capital valuation of their properties is fast approaching, and society managers and office-bearers have clearly been caught unawares. With less than one week left, property owners should act quickly in the next six days, or risk having to struggle with unduly high property tax rates for years to come. Unknown to most Mumbaikars, MCGM issued a circular last month giving notice that the Capital Valuation for the forthcoming years has been completed for fixing up property tax applicable to property owners and that "they will be available for inspection at the office of the Asstt. Assessor and Collector in the respective wards… between 23rd March 2017 to 13th April 2017." It added that "complaints against the Capital Values... must be made in writing by the property owners themselves or by the persons duly authorized by them under a power of attorney." BMC’s notice may be down...

Mumbai, 31st March, 2017: Unknown to most Mumbaikars, MCGM issued a circular last week giving notice that the Capital Valuation for the forthcoming years has been completed for determining property tax applicable to property owners and that "they will be available for inspection at the office of the Asstt. Assessor and Collector in the respective wards … between 23rd March 2017 to 13th April 2017." It added that "complaints against the Capital Values... must be made in writing by the property owners themselves or by the persons duly authorized by them under a power of attorney." BMC’s notice may be downloaded from this link:   http://bit.ly/MCGM-Notice-23-3-2017 Sometimes, the assessment department makes mistakes in fixing the capital value, which results in huge disputed dues. If the window of opportunity given under the circular is not promptly availed, then property owners such as housing societies are left with the costly option of going to...