MahaRERA Refund Order Not Paid? Non-Compliance Application Steps

Your Client Won at MahaRERA. The Builder Still Hasn't Paid. Now What?

A MahaRERA order in your client's favour is a document, not a bank transfer. The Authority passes a refund, interest, or compensation order under Section 18 or Section 19, the builder ignores it, and the homebuyer turns to you asking why nothing has moved. This is the gap most property brokers hit for the first time only after an order is already in hand.

The order does not enforce itself. MahaRERA does not automatically chase the promoter or seize funds the moment the ruling is signed. There is a defined post-order process, and it only begins when you or your client trigger it. Sitting and waiting is the single most common reason a genuine refund order stays unpaid for a year or more.

This guide walks through exactly what a registered intermediary should do once the order is final and the builder has gone silent. Know this cold, because clients treat you as the person who understands what happens next.

When Does a MahaRERA Order Actually Become Enforceable?

An order is not enforceable the day it is passed. Under MahaRERA's rules, a party has 60 days from the date of receipt of the order to file an appeal before the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal. Until that window closes, the order is not final for execution purposes.

Once 60 days lapse from receipt and the builder has neither appealed nor complied, the order becomes final and enforceable. This is the trigger point. Only after this can you legitimately move to recovery. Filing a non-compliance application before the 60-day window closes is premature and MahaRERA can reject or defer it, costing your client weeks.

Mark the receipt date precisely. Count 60 days from when the order was received, not from the hearing date or the date printed on the order. Advise your client to keep the delivery acknowledgement or portal notification that establishes the receipt date, because that record decides when the clock started.

MahaRERA Circular 51/2025 and the Recovery Roadmap

MahaRERA Circular 51/2025 lays out the standard operating procedure for executing refund, compensation, and possession orders. It exists precisely because homebuyers were winning orders and then having no clear path to enforce them. The circular formalises how a non-compliance application is filed, listed, and acted upon.

Under this SOP, once the order is final, the aggrieved party files an online non-compliance or execution application on the MahaRERA portal. The application must specify the exact nature of relief sought: refund of the principal, interest under Section 18, compensation, or a combination. Vague applications that simply say "builder has not paid" slow the process because MahaRERA has to seek clarification.

The application is then listed before the Authority within roughly four weeks. This listing timeline is one of the practical improvements the circular introduced. Confirm the current filing format and any prescribed fee on the official MahaRERA portal before submitting, since procedural details can be updated.

What MahaRERA Does After You File

Once the non-compliance application is listed, MahaRERA issues a show-cause notice to the promoter, asking why the order has not been complied with. The builder gets a chance to respond or to pay. In many cases, the show-cause notice alone prompts payment because the promoter now faces escalation.

If the builder still does not pay, MahaRERA can issue a recovery warrant and forward it to the District Collector. The Collector recovers the amount as an arrear of land revenue, which allows attachment and sale of the promoter's assets. This is the enforcement muscle behind the order, and it is where many recoveries finally succeed.

Non-compliance also exposes the promoter to penalties under Section 63, which covers failure to comply with an order of the Authority. You can estimate the exposure using a RERA penalty calculator for Section 59, 60, 62, 63 and 65 violations, which is useful when advising a client on the pressure the builder faces.

Non-Compliance Application vs a Fresh Complaint

These are two different things and confusing them wastes months. A fresh complaint is what you file to get an order in the first place, when there is a dispute about delay, refund entitlement, or a Section 12 misrepresentation. It goes through a full hearing on merits.

A non-compliance or execution application is filed only after an order already exists and the builder has not honoured it. You are not re-arguing the case. You are asking MahaRERA to enforce a ruling that is already final. The Authority does not reopen the facts; it moves straight to show-cause and recovery.

If a property advisor files a fresh complaint when they should have filed an execution application, MahaRERA may treat it as a new matter with a fresh hearing cycle, delaying recovery your client already earned. When an order exists and the 60-day window has closed, the correct instrument is the non-compliance application under Circular 51/2025, not another complaint.

The Checklist to Hand Your Client

Give the homebuyer a clean, numbered list so they act without confusion:

1. Confirm the date you received the MahaRERA order and keep the proof of receipt. 2. Wait until 60 days from that receipt date have fully lapsed. 3. Check that the builder has neither appealed to the Appellate Tribunal nor paid. 4. Log in to the MahaRERA portal and open a non-compliance / execution application against the same order number. 5. State the exact relief: refund principal, interest under Section 18, compensation, or all three, with amounts. 6. Attach the order copy, receipt proof, the builder's bank/payment default record, and all transaction records showing what was paid to the builder. 7. Submit and note the application number for the four-week listing.

For the interest figure, calculate it precisely using a Section 18 delay interest calculator based on the SBI MCLR rate so the amount claimed matches what the order awarded.

Common Mistakes That Delay Recovery

Missing transaction records is the most damaging error. If your client cannot produce bank statements, receipts, and the allotment paperwork showing exactly what was paid, MahaRERA and later the District Collector struggle to fix the recovery amount. Assemble these before filing, not after a query comes back.

Filing before the 60-day window lapses is the second frequent mistake. It looks proactive but it is procedurally wrong and gets deferred. Filing a fresh complaint instead of an execution application is the third. Both reset the clock your client cannot afford to lose.

RERA professionals who understand this post-order process become genuinely valuable to clients, and the same procedural knowledge shows up in the certification exam. The MahaRERA exam syllabus" covers enforcement, penalties, and the Authority's powers. Test yourself on order execution and Section 63 questions through a full-length MahaRERA agent mock test. The exam is 50 MCQs in 40 minutes with a 40 percent pass mark, 20 correct out of 50, and no negative marking, so procedural clarity like this directly lifts your score.