3.1 Maharashtra RERA Rules 2017 & Regulatory Notifications

3.1 Maharashtra RERA Rules 2017 & Regulatory Notifications

Following the enactment of the central Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA), the State Government of Maharashtra exercised its powers under Section 84 of the Act to frame state-specific rules. On 20 April 2017 (Notification No. REA 2016/CR No.79/DVP-2), the Housing Department of Maharashtra formally notified the Maharashtra Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (Registration of Real Estate Projects, Registration of Real Estate Agents, Rates of Interest and Disclosures on Website) Rules, 2017 (commonly referred to as the Maharashtra RERA Rules 2017). These rules, along with binding circulars and orders issued by MahaRERA, establish the operational, legal, and compliance framework for real estate agents operating within Maharashtra.

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Key Statutory Provisions for Real Estate Agents

The Maharashtra RERA Rules 2017 govern every phase of a real estate agent's professional lifecycle—from initial registration and fee payment to mandatory account keeping, interest rate determination, and renewal procedures.

1. Application for Registration (Rule 11)

Every real estate agent required to be registered under Section 9 of the Act must submit an online application to MahaRERA in Form G, accompanied by the prescribed registration fee and statutory documents:

• Individual / Sole Proprietorship Fee: ₹10,000
• Non-Individual Entity Fee: ₹100,000 (applies to Partnership Firms, Limited Liability Partnerships [LLPs], Private Limited Companies, Public Limited Companies, and Societies)
• Required Attachments: PAN card copy, business address proof, details of enterprise registration, photographs, income-tax returns for the preceding three financial years (or the prescribed exemption declaration), applicable enterprise/address records and details of pending civil or criminal cases under Rule 11(2). Do not confuse disclosure of a pending case with a universal declaration that no case exists.

2. Grant of Registration & Validity (Rule 12)

Upon verifying the application details within 30 days, MahaRERA issues a registration certificate in Form H.

• Validity Period: The registration remains valid for a period of 5 years from the date of issuance across the entire State of Maharashtra.
• Registration Certificate Details: Contains a unique MahaRERA Registration Number (e.g., A518000XXXXX), which must be quoted in every property transaction, sale agreement, advertisement, and marketing brochure.

3. Renewal of Registration (Rule 13)

An agent's registration must be renewed prior to its expiration to ensure uninterrupted legal status:

• Application Form: Renewal applications are filed online in Form J.
• Mandatory Lead Time: Must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the expiration date of the existing 5-year registration.
• Renewal Fees: Rule 13(1) requires the renewal application to be accompanied with the same fees as are applicable in case of new registration — that is, ₹10,000 for individuals/proprietorships and ₹1,00,000 for non-individual entities. There is no discounted renewal fee.
• Extension Period: A granted renewal extends registration for an additional 5-year term.

4. Standing Obligations of a Registered Agent (Rule 14)

Rule 14 is the obligations rule, not the revocation rule. It requires every registered agent to (i) prominently display the registration certificate number at the principal place of business and at every branch office, and (ii) quote that registration number, together with the project's registration number, on every document relating to advertisement, marketing, sale or purchase issued by the agent.

5. Revocation and Suspension (Rule 15)

Revocation sits in Rule 15, read with Section 9(7) of the Act. Where an agent breaches any term or condition specified under the rules or regulations, or where the Authority is satisfied that registration was secured through misrepresentation or fraud, MahaRERA may — suo motu or on a complaint from a promoter or allottee — revoke or suspend the registration and inform all promoters.

• Natural justice: No revocation or suspension may be made unless the agent has been given an opportunity of being heard. The rule prescribes a hearing, not a fixed notice period.
• Intimation: Revocation is intimated to the agent in Form 'I'.
• Six-month cooling-off: Once registration is revoked, the agent cannot make a fresh application for registration for six months.

6. Maintenance and Preservation of Books of Accounts (Rule 16)

Rule 16 does not state its own retention period. It requires every registered agent to maintain and preserve such books of accounts, records and documents as required under the Income Tax Act, 1961, the Companies Act, 2013, or any other law for the time being in force, and to produce them for inspection when needed for the grant or renewal of registration. Determine the retention period from the law actually applicable to the agent, entity and record. The tax-law reference must be read with the current Income-tax Act, 2025 and Rules, 2026 transition; do not assume that an older prescribed-profession rule applies to every property agent. Covered PMLA transaction and identity records have separate retention clocks, explained in Section 7.2.

7. Other Functions of a Real Estate Agent (Rule 17)

Rule 17 requires the agent to assist both the allottee and the promoter in exercising their rights and discharging their obligations, and expressly bars the agent from unfair trade practices — falsely representing the standard or grade of services, representing an approval or affiliation that the promoter or the agent does not hold, making false or misleading representations about services, or permitting publication of advertisements for services the promoter does not intend to offer.

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Rate of Interest Calculation (Rule 18)

One of the most critical financial provisions in the Maharashtra RERA Rules 2017 is Rule 18, which standardizes the rate of interest payable in case of defaults or delays by either party. (Rule 19 requires covered refunds with applicable interest and compensation, if any, within 30 days from when they become due and payable.)

$$\text{Applicable Rate of Interest} = \text{SBI Highest MCLR} + 2\% \text{ per annum}$$

• Benchmark Rate: The highest SBI Marginal Cost of Lending Rate, not a presumed one-year or longest-tenor rate. Rule 18 also provides an SBI benchmark-lending-rate fallback if MCLR is no longer in use.
• Uniform Application: This interest rate applies symmetrically. If a developer delays project completion or refund payout under Section 18, they must pay interest to the buyer at SBI highest MCLR plus two percentage points. Conversely, if a buyer delays installment payments to the developer, the interest charged by the developer cannot exceed SBI highest MCLR plus two percentage points.

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Landmark MahaRERA Circulars & Regulatory Notifications

To address practical industry challenges and raise standards of consumer protection, MahaRERA regularly issues binding circulars and regulatory orders under Section 37 of the Act.

Section 9(5), Rule 14 & the Order 46 Series: Display of Registration Number and QR Code

• Registration Number Mandate: Section 9(5) of the Act requires the agent's registration number to be quoted in every sale facilitated, and Rule 14 requires it to be displayed at the principal place of business and every branch office and quoted on every advertisement, marketing, sale or purchase document — hoardings, social media posts, website listings, print ads and brochures alike.
• QR Code Mandate (Order No. 46/2023 dated 29.05.2023; Order No. 46A/2023 dated 25.07.2023; Order No. 46B/2023): MahaRERA introduced a project-specific QR Code for every registered project, made its display compulsory for project promotions/advertisements published after 1 August 2023, and extended the same obligation to registered real estate agents. Scanning the QR code takes a prospective buyer straight to the project's official disclosure page on the MahaRERA portal.
• Display Norms (Order 46C, dated 8 April 2025): MahaRERA has since prescribed how the QR code and registration number must appear — placed in the top-right quadrant of the advertisement, in a font at least as large as the largest font used for contact details or address, in a high-contrast colour, with the QR code kept scannable and in correct aspect ratio. These requirements are also restated in paragraph 7 of MahaRERA's official Pune enforcement order dated 22 May 2025.
• Penal Consequences: Where the conduct constitutes a Section 9 or 10 default, Section 62 provides ₹10,000 for each day of default, cumulatively up to 5% of the cost of the relevant plot, apartment or building whose sale or purchase was facilitated, as determined by the Authority. Establish the applicable duty and default; the daily amount and cumulative cap are not alternative penalty rules.

Official Agent Training and Certificate of Competency Guidance

MahaRERA's published training and certification guidelines describe its capacity-building programme and the Certificate of Competency:

• Training scope: The guidelines cover individual agents; the authorized signatory making the entity's agent-registration application; and employees, staff and officers, regardless of designation, who interact with homebuyers/allottees to effect real-estate transactions. They also cover existing registered agents. A job title alone does not establish that a passive director is a transaction-facing employee.
• Training requirements: The published guidelines specify a minimum 20-hour course and 60% attendance for completion and examination registration. Choose an institute from MahaRERA's current Real Estate Agent → Agent Training → List of Training Institutes page. AIILSG is identified as a curriculum-development and updating partner; this role does not make it an empanelled training provider.
• Certification examination: Successfully trained candidates take the official Certificate of Competency examination. The published 2023 guidelines describe an IBPS examination arrangement; MahaRERA's current Agent Exam Registration page links to TCS. Use the current official registration page and cycle instructions for the present agency, examination window and registration process.
• Certificate requirement: The guidelines require the unique competency-certification number for registration, renewal or continuation of agent registration. Keep registration and competency certification current and check the official portal's application instructions before applying.

Order No. 43/2023: Half-Yearly Progress Reports in Form 6

MahaRERA Order No. 43/2023, dated 13 February 2023 and effective 1 April 2023, requires every registered real estate agent to publish a half-yearly progress report in the prescribed Form 6 on the agent's respective web page, following the financial half-year calendar:

• Period 1 (April to September): Upload on or before 20 October.
• Period 2 (October to March): Upload on or before 20 April.
• Report Contents (Form 6): The agent's name, MahaRERA registration number and Certificate of Competency number; projects in which the agent is designated by the promoter under Section 4(2)(j); transactions facilitated during the period; and the related particulars prescribed in the form.
• Public Disclosure: Order 43 clause (v) requires the report to be publicly viewable except the portions marked with an asterisk (*) in Form 6. Preserve those marked disclosure limits.
• Non-Compliance: The order provides that where the report is not filed in the prescribed manner and within these timelines, "action as deemed fit shall be initiated by the Authority." It does not prescribe automatic suspension. Separately, MahaRERA's official renewal guidance requires the Form 6 half-yearly progress report to be uploaded with the documents when an agent applies for renewal of registration in the Other Documents section of the Documents tab. A missing upload leaves that required renewal documentation incomplete; it is not proof of automatic suspension or a separate automatic refusal rule.

Summary of Regulatory Parameters for MahaRERA Agents

The table below summarizes the core statutory requirements, timelines, fee structures, and legal references under the Maharashtra RERA Rules 2017 and official circulars.