MahaRERA has no plans yet to regulate real estate influencers promoting projects on social media

According to MahaRERA officials, the motive is to make developers share maximum information in the public domain, which will allow homebuyers to make informed decisions. Hence, currently there are no plans to regulate social media influencers advertising or promoting real estate projects online.

“Homebuyers usually do not take a decision to buy a home based on what has been put up by influencers on social media. After all, they buy a home only once or twice in a lifetime. Influencers can promote real estate projects but we already have a system in place where developers put out maximum information in the public domain,” said a senior MahaRERA official not wishing to be named.

“We are working to make our system stronger and robust to ensure homebuyers get maximum information while making the final decision to buy a home. Real estate agents play a big role here and we have ensured that they sit for the competency examination,” the MahaRERA official added.

There are several real estate influencers who are active on social media platforms like YouTube, X and Instagram. They provide tips on real estate projects and often comment on the real estate sector.

Also Read: 5 orders passed by MahaRERA to safeguard homebuyers’ interests in Maharashtra

MahaRERA tightens grip on real estate advertisements

MahaRERA in the past one year has levied penalties on real estate agents and developers for violating rules pertaining to advertising projects on social media and even offline.

The Authority had on July 8 said that it had initiated action against developers of 628 real estate projects for not displaying the RERA registration number and QR code in their advertisements and imposed a penalty of ₹88.90 lakh on them.

Also Read: MahaRERA suspends registration of over 20,000 real estate agents in Maharashtra

All real estate projects have to be registered under MahaRERA

Every project that gets launched in Maharashtra has to be registered with the MahaRERA. All developers have to share project details and update information on a quarterly basis.

Similarly, real estate agents also need to register themselves with MahaRERA after clearing the competency examination conducted by the regulator. They also have to declare information on real estate transactions to the MahaRERA twice a year.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulates finfluencers on social media

SEBI, a market regulator, in August 2023 had floated a consultation paper to regulate finfluencers, also known as financial influencers. 

In June 2024, SEBI had approved norms to regulate misinformation through financial influencers by putting curbs on association of its regulated entities with any unregistered persons. It has also provided a window for investor education from such associations with a condition that they do not provide any recommendation or claim any return. The regulator has also decided to create a closed ecosystem for fee collection by Sebi-registered Investment Advisers (IAs) and Research Analysts (RAs) from their clients.

According to SEBI, this ecosystem will help investors ensure that their payments reach only registered IAs and RAs and would also help investors identify, isolate, and avoid unregistered entities, who would be unable to access this closed ecosystem.

Also Read: MahaRERA Update: Former Maharashtra chief secretary Manoj Saunik new MahaRERA chairman

What do experts have to say on regulating real estate influencers?

According to experts, before MahaRERA goes ahead with regulating real estate influencers, it would be better if they consider regulating financial institutions, chartered accountants (CA), company secretaries (CS).

“Financial institutions, CA, CS, architects all of them are stakeholders and it would be great if they could also be regulated in some way by MahaRERA. If not regulated, some sort of empanelment might also work,” said Ramesh Prabhu, Chairman of Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association.

“Obviously regulation on developers and real estate agents can also be improved and one of the most important elements, I feel, requires strict regulation is advertisements. I do not say we should not regulate real estate influencers, but these stakeholders should be regulated first,” he said.