Maharashtra extends validity of realty NOCs by 9 months

Maharashtra government has extended the validity of all time-bound building permissions, no-objection certificates (NOCs) and completion certificates by nine months in the backdrop of disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The state government has also offered relief to developers by providing exemption from paying interest on any installments to be paid to authorities during this period.
This will be applicable to various clearances--both that are valid for a limited period, or otherwise--provided by different agencies, including landowning agencies, building plan approval section of municipal corporations, state pollution control board, traffic and transportation department, and environmental committees. Developers said the decision and its timing is crucial given the disturbance they are witnessing in construction work.

“This extension in permissions’ validity by nine months will provide us a breather, given the shortage of labour and other challenges that have emerged due to Covid-19 crisis,” said Rajan Bandelkar, president of developers’ body NAREDCO Maharashtra. “These time-bound approvals would have lapsed by the time we manage these issues and, therefore, this support from the government was much needed.”

Construction sites were not operational for the last two months owing to lockdown and work is expected to be affected in the near term. Last week, the ministry of housing & urban affairs had issued an advisory to states and Union Territories to extend the timelines of various such permissions, and approvals related to realty construction projects by nine months automatically. This is in addition to already announced relief in terms of completion timelines of projects.

Following the central government’s advisory, state authorities have extended the completion and registration validity timelines for real estate projects by six months across the country by treating Covid-19 pandemic as force majeure under the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016. State-specific RERA authorities are allowed to extend this further by three more months.