News: MahaRERA Orders Rs 5 Lakh Clubhouse Fee Refunded-22-07-2026

Money collected by a developer for a proposed clubhouse can be reclaimed by the homebuyer if the amenity is not built within a reasonable period, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has ruled. In a recent order, it told a Mumbai-based developer to return Rs 5 lakh taken as clubhouse membership charges, though without interest.

The complaint

The buyer had purchased an apartment in a Mumbai housing project and took possession in October 2019. He sought a refund of the Rs 5 lakh with interest, saying that more than six years after handover the developer had neither built the clubhouse nor given residents access to it. He contended that the developer had provided no membership rights or benefit while continuing to hold the money.

The developer’s stand

The developer told MahaRERA that the project was one phase of a larger integrated redevelopment scheme and that the clubhouse was meant as a common amenity for the whole layout, to be built once the larger layout was substantially complete. Collecting the charges at possession was in line with the contract, it said, and a buyer who had acted on the agreement for sale and benefited from it could not later back out of its obligations.

It attributed the delay to the relocation of an existing BEST bus depot and the need for statutory approvals, and said the clubhouse had not been abandoned. The agreement, it submitted, provided for a refund only if the clubhouse was ultimately not constructed.

The order

MahaRERA noted that the agreement for sale set no specific timeline for completing the clubhouse but clearly treated it as part of the larger development. The agreement also said that if the clubhouse was not built within five years of the agreement’s date, the membership amount would be refunded without interest.

With no agreed timeline to establish default, and given the contractual refund clause, the regulator held the complainant entitled to the amount without interest. The developer must pay Rs 5 lakh within 60 days.

What lawyers advise

Trupti Daphtary, an advocate and solicitor based in Mumbai, said the agreement in this case was executed in April 2018, and MahaRERA held that where no timeline is stipulated the developer must provide the amenity within a reasonable period.

She said MahaRERA issued an order in 2024 requiring greater transparency because developers were not disclosing when facilities would be available. Developers must now give detailed disclosures of facilities and amenities provided or proposed for the building, its common areas and the overall layout, annex the approved plans to the agreement for sale, and state the proposed handover date for such amenities. The prescribed clause is mandatory and non-negotiable.

Buyers should therefore check the developer’s timelines for amenities before signing, Daphtary said. Even where timelines are given, she added, this order is a useful precedent for allottees seeking refunds if facilities are not delivered within the stipulated or a reasonable period.