Special officials must under PMLA for estate agents with Rs 20 lakh turnover: MahaRERA

Dated on: Tuesday 14th March 2023

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) issued an order on Monday mandating real estate agents with an annual turnover of Rs 20 lakh or more to share information about appointments of a principal officer and a designated director. This obligation is mentioned in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002 (PMLA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules of 2005. (PMLR).

The primary officer would serve as a central point of contact for reporting suspicious transactions and identifying possibly suspicious transactions. The designated director would be responsible for ensuring overall compliance with the duties imposed under the PMLA and the PMLR. Real estate agents have been classified as "reporting entity" under the PMLA Act. It is the reporting entity's responsibility to keep business records. A "reporting entity" is defined as a banking corporation, a financial institution, an intermediary, or a person engaged in a specified activity or profession under the PMLA.