MahaRERA: project extensions don't cancel a homebuyer's right to delay interest, regulator rules

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority has held that completion extensions it grants to developers do not extinguish a homebuyer's right to compensation for delayed possession. In an order dated June 13, MahaRERA directed a Pune developer, Urban Space Creators, to pay delay interest to a buyer whose flat was not handed over on the agreed timeline.

Passed by chairperson Manoj Saunik, the order found that statutory extensions cannot dilute the protections available under Section 18 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. It added that developers who accept bookings before securing the necessary approvals cannot later recast the resulting regulatory delays as force majeure, and that stop-work orders, labour shortages and strikes are ordinary commercial risks. Interest was set at the State Bank of India's highest marginal cost of lending rate plus two percentage points, running from May 1, 2025 to actual possession.

For the MMR — where much new supply moves through redevelopment and long-gestation projects — the reasoning reinforces a buyer-friendly reading of delay liability, narrowing a defence developers have leaned on.

Individual orders are fact-specific and can be appealed. But the decision adds to a growing line of MahaRERA rulings that treat possession dates as commitments to buyers rather than moving targets.