Builders in Maharashtra tweak agreements to flout open space norms

In a clear departure from the provisions of Real Estate Regulations Act, 2016, many developers have uploaded “agreement pro formas” on the authority’s website not in consonance with the norms. According to legal experts, this seems to be an “attempt” by developers/promoters to work around some of the clear and stringent provisions of RERA. The most striking variation is in the respective treatment of open spaces. “The opens spaces and internal roads will not be conveyed and the promoter shall be entitled to deal with and treat the said open spaces as per the law and shall be entitled to appropriate the benefits arising therefrom,” reads a pro forma of an agreement on the MahaRERA website. Another one reads, “The owner/promoter shall be exclusively entitled to hold and otherwise deal with, in all respects, for its own benefit and account the amenity area/ open space in such a manner desired by the owner/promoter.”