SRA flat lock-in is 5 years in the Act, not 10; the 2011 cut-off is not new

Rules as of 13 October 2026.

Two claims about Mumbai's slum rehabilitation (SRA) flats keep circulating: that they cannot be sold for 10 years, and that the eligibility cut-off has been moved from 2000 to 2011. The statute shows the first is out of date and the second is only partly right.

The lock-in is five years in the law, not ten

Section 3E(1) of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971 bars the allottee of a rehabilitation tenement from transferring it for a fixed period. A bill introduced in July 2023 recorded the existing text as barring transfer "for a period of first ten years", after which transfer needs the Slum Rehabilitation Authority's permission. That bill proposed seven years.

The version that went through was the Second Amendment Bill, introduced on 20 December 2023. Its single operative clause replaces "ten years" with "five years" at both places in Section 3E(1), and its stated reason is that "the Government considers it expedient to reduce the said period of ten years to five years." The consolidated Act published by PRS India lists it as Maharashtra Act XV of 2024, first published on 19 January 2024.

I did not read the current wording of Section 3E in full, so check from when the five years are counted and what permission is needed after that.

The lock-in also covers informal handovers

A Bombay High Court ruling reported on 1 August 2026 (Chhaya Kashinath Shinde v. State of Maharashtra, Justice Amit Borkar) upheld an eviction under Section 3E(2). As reported, the court read "or otherwise" widely and held that action can follow even without a registered sale deed, if authorities prove a prohibited transfer actually happened. I read this only in a law-news report, not the judgment.

The 2011 cut-off is older than the 2026 headlines

Section 3B(5)(f) of the Act, as substituted by Maharashtra Act XXXVIII of 2018, already provides for tenements to "non-protected occupiers" up to 1 January 2011, on ownership or rent, "subject to availability" and on terms to be notified. So 2011 has been in the statute since 2018.

The 2000 date appears in the government's own policy rather than in the Act text I read. A report on a GR of 26 May 2023 says huts built before 1 January 2000 are protected and get a free tenement, while huts from 1 January 2000 to 1 January 2011 can get a home for a payment of ₹2.5 lakh. For a home of about 300 sq ft, that works out to roughly ₹833 per sq ft (₹2,50,000 / 300). That is from a news report. I did not see the GR.

What was announced in July 2026

On 9 July 2026, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule told the Legislative Assembly that dwellings built before 1 January 2011 on government, forest, and central or state authority land would be protected, and eligible residents rehabilitated through SRA, MHADA, CIDCO or other schemes where in-situ regularisation is not feasible, according to Free Press Journal. A statewide survey with biometric and physical verification is to finish in three months, under a committee headed by the Konkan Divisional Commissioner. This is an announcement. I found no GR number or notification.

Claim	What the sources show	Status
10-year resale lock-in	Section 3E(1) amended to five years (Act XV of 2024)	In the Act (PRS consolidated text)
Cut-off 2000 to 2011	2011 already in s.3B(5)(f) since 2018; 2000 appears in a 2023 GR as reported	Partly outdated claim
Fresh biometric survey, three months	Announced in Assembly, 9 July 2026	Announced, no GR seen
72,665 eligible Navi Mumbai families	Could not be traced to any primary source	Unverified, left out

What buyers and allottees should check

• Ask for the allotment date and the SRA permission record before paying for any rehabilitation flat. Illustrative: if a flat was allotted on 1 March 2026, five years from allotment would end on 1 March 2031, ten years on 1 March 2036. Confirm the counting rule in the Act.
• Avoid power-of-attorney or possession-only deals during the lock-in. The reported High Court ruling treats such handovers as a possible breach.
• For hutments built in 2000 to 2011, confirm the payment terms in the GR in force, not a social media summary.

This is an explainer, not legal advice. Ask an advocate to read the allotment letter and the current Section 3E.