DCPR 33(7), 33(7)(A) & 33(7)(B): Redeveloping Mumbai's Cessed Buildings

DCPR 2034 Regulations 33(7), 33(7)(A) and 33(7)(B) are the rules that allow old, rent-controlled “cessed” buildings in Mumbai’s island city (roughly Colaba to Mahim and Sion) to be demolished and rebuilt with extra floor space, with MHADA’s repair board in the picture. In plain terms: if your building pays a repair “cess” to MHADA’s Mumbai Building Repair & Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), these are the regulations under which a developer — or your own co-operative society — can redevelop it. Every eligible occupant gets a brand-new, self-contained flat free of cost, the eligibility list is certified by MBRRB, and the whole scheme runs under the MHADA Act, 1976 and the DCPR 2034. This guide explains the cess categories, the carpet area each occupant is entitled to, how the “incentive FSI” is worked out, and the protections a cessed tenant enjoys.

The two numbers most members want are the carpet area they will get back and the FSI the plot will support. Both are fixed by DCPR 2034 Regulation 33(7) itself, not by a developer’s opinion. On carpet area: each occupant is rehoused in the carpet area actually occupied in the old building, with a floor of 27.88 sq m (300 sq ft) and a ceiling of 120 sq m (1,292 sq ft). On FSI: the total is 3.00 of the gross plot area, or the rehabilitation FSI plus incentive FSI, whichever is more — and the incentive is 50% for a single cessed plot, 60% for a composite scheme of 2 to 5 plots and 70% where six or more plots come together. The tables and the arithmetic are below.

What exactly is a “cessed” building?

A cessed building is an old tenanted building in Greater Mumbai’s island city on which a small repair tax — the cess — is levied. That cess is collected by the Mumbai Building Repair & Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), a wing of MHADA (the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) that exists specifically to look after these ageing structures. MHADA and MBRRB draw their powers from the MHADA Act, 1976.

These are typically buildings where families have lived for decades as protected tenants under old rent-control law, paying very low rents. Because the rent is frozen, landlords historically had little money or incentive to maintain the buildings — so many became structurally dangerous. The cess-and-MHADA system was created to fund repairs and, where repair is no longer viable, to enable full reconstruction. That is where Regulation 33(7) and its sub-clauses come in.

Two terms you will meet constantly:

• FSI (Floor Space Index): the ratio of total built-up floor area you may construct to the plot area. An FSI of 3 on a 1,000 sq m plot means 3,000 sq m of construction. Higher FSI means more sellable flats — which is what makes redevelopment financially worth it.
• Carpet area vs built-up area: DCPR 2034 says carpet area carries the same meaning as under RERA 2016. Under RERA, carpet area excludes the external walls, the areas under service shafts, an exclusive balcony or verandah and an exclusive open terrace — but it includes the internal partition walls of the flat. Built-up area is the wider figure: the area covered by the building on all floors, excluding cladding and the items DCPR specifically exempts from FSI. Your entitlement in a cessed redevelopment is measured in carpet area, so make sure every area figure in your agreement says “carpet” and says it in square metres.

Cess categories: A, B and C (by age)

MBRRB classifies cessed buildings into three categories based on when they were constructed. Your category affects eligibility and, historically, the scheme terms. The standard classification used by MHADA is:

Buildings constructed after 30 September 1969 are generally not cessed. You can confirm your category from the cess bill itself or directly with MBRRB. Do not assume — the category, along with the plot size and road width, feeds directly into what the plot can support.

33(7), 33(7)(A) and 33(7)(B): which clause applies

The main regulation is 33(7), headed in DCPR 2034 as “Reconstruction or redevelopment of cessed buildings in the Island City by Co-operative Housing Societies or of old buildings belonging to the Corporation”. It covers cessed buildings in the island city existing before 30 September 1969 that attract the MHAD Act, 1976, and Corporation (MCGM) buildings existing before the same date. (DCPR 2034 applies to Greater Mumbai / MCGM only; the rest of Maharashtra uses the UDCPR instead.)

DCPR 2034 also carries the separate sub-regulations 33(7)(A) and 33(7)(B). Those clause numbers are real and can be cited, but this guide gives the figures for the main 33(7) route only. Do not accept a summary of what 33(7)(A) or 33(7)(B) contains — from a developer, a broker or any website — without checking it against the notified text. Ask MHADA / MBRRB and your licensed architect, in writing, which clause your plot is being processed under, because the clause changes the maths of the deal.

For very large layouts or several adjoining buildings, the separate cluster / urban-renewal route under Regulation 33(9) may apply instead, with its own consent and area rules. An ongoing 33(7) scheme that meets the criteria can be included in or converted into a 33(9) cluster scheme, provided every dilution of reservations under 33(7) is restored. Our DCPR 2034 explained guide walks through how these regulations sit together.

How the FSI works under 33(7)

A cessed redevelopment has two building components:

• The rehabilitation component — the free flats built to rehouse the existing eligible occupants.
• The incentive (free-sale) component — extra area the developer is allowed to build and sell in the open market. This is the developer’s reward for funding the project and is what makes the numbers work.

The headline rule: 3.00, or rehab plus incentive, whichever is more

Regulation 33(7) does not leave the total FSI to negotiation. The total FSI shall be 3.00 on the gross plot area, or the FSI needed to rehabilitate the existing occupiers plus the incentive FSI, whichever is more. A cessed society is guaranteed the better of the two. That is the single most useful fact in this guide. If a developer tells you the plot “only supports 2.4”, ask in writing why 3.00 on the gross plot area does not apply.

Note the words gross plot area here. Regulation 33(7) measures its 3.00 on the gross plot. That is different from the general road-width table further down, where Regulation 30(A)(2) computes permissible FSI on the net plot — after taking out land under DP roads and reservations to be surrendered. Two different rules, two different bases. Make sure your architect states which plot area each figure in the feasibility report is sitting on, in square metres.

Incentive FSI: 50%, 60% or 70%, by how many plots come together

The incentive is not a figure the developer chooses. Under 33(7) it is fixed by one thing only — how many cessed plots are in the scheme. Not the land rate, not the plot size, not the builder’s costing:

Source: sanctioned DCPR 2034, Regulation 33(7), sr. no. 5 — clause 5(a), clause 5(b) and the proviso to 5(b).

Three things follow from that table. First, the extra 8% or 15% is added to every occupier’s rehabilitation carpet, still subject to the 120 sq m ceiling explained below. Second — and this is the practical point for a committee — joining hands with neighbouring cessed plots moves the scheme from 50% incentive to 60%, or to 70% at six plots, and adds carpet to every member’s flat. That is a concrete, checkable reason to explore a composite scheme with the buildings next door before you sign anything on your own. Third, the bands do not overlap: one plot, 2 to 5 plots, or six and above. A scheme of 3, 4 or 5 plots is squarely in the 60% / 8% band, and a developer who calls it 50% is short-changing you.

The 70% tier is not only for six-plot schemes. It also applies to redevelopment of municipal properties under this regulation with an eligible tenement density above 650 per hectare. If your building is an MCGM property packed with tenants, check that density figure before accepting 50%.

There is also a Note in the regulation worth quoting back to a developer. Where the permissible FSI in a scheme is 3.0, that 3.0 may be exceeded by exactly the built-up area needed to deliver the 8% or 15% additional rehab carpet. So the extra carpet does not have to be carved out of the sale component — the regulation makes room for it above the cap.

Which inputs decide where your society sits: the number of cessed plots in the scheme (50 / 60 / 70%), the certified carpet area of every eligible occupant (which sets the rehabilitation FSI), the gross plot area (which sets the 3.00 comparison), and the width of the abutting road (which sets the plot’s own permissible FSI in the table further down). Get those four right and the arithmetic is yours to do.

Note the direction of travel: the more occupiers a cessed building has, the larger the rehabilitation component, and the more likely the rehab-plus-incentive route beats the flat 3.00. A lightly-tenanted plot usually lands on the 3.00 rule instead.

The road-width FSI bands for island-city plots

Separately from the rehab-plus-incentive route, every plot has a baseline permissible FSI under DCPR 2034 Table 12, set by the width of the road it abuts. Cessed buildings sit in the island city, where the zonal (basic) FSI is 1.33:

Source: sanctioned DCPR 2034, Table 12 — Island City.

Read the 9 m row carefully — it decides real projects. The sanctioned table says “less than 9 m” for the basic band and “9 m and above” for the next one. So a road of exactly 9.00 m is in the higher band and the plot gets 2.00, not 1.33. 9 m is one of the commonest nominal layout widths in Mumbai, and plenty of summaries still say “up to 9 m” because they were written from the draft regulation. If anyone tells you a 9 m road caps you at basic FSI, they have the boundary on the wrong side and they are halving your entitlement.

Table 12 also carries a Note that is worth knowing: a plot on a road of at least 6 m but less than 9 m today, which is proposed to be widened to 9.0 m or more, already gets the FSI admissible for a 9 m road. So check your Development Plan for a proposed widening line before you accept 1.33.

In words: a cessed plot on a 15 m road is in the 12.00–18.00 m band, so its permissible FSI is 2.40 — made up of 1.33 basic, 0.62 bought as premium FSI and 0.45 loaded through TDR. Move the same building to a 30 m road and it is in the top band at 3.00; put it on an 8 m lane and it stays at 1.33. The premium portion is not free: it is charged at 50% of the ASR land rate for FSI 1 (Regulation 30(A)(6)). And the FSI is computed on the net plot area, not the gross — Regulation 30(A)(2) excludes land under DP roads, roads for which a sanctioned Regular Line is prescribed under the MMC Act, Regulation 14 amenity plots and Regulation 17 DP reservations that have to be surrendered. You can claim TDR for that surrendered land separately under Regulation 32.

On top of all this sits fungible compensatory FSI — extra buildable area allowed on payment of a premium, used for balconies, flower beds and passages. So the honest answer to “how much FSI will we get?” is: start at your road-width band above, then work the rehab-plus-incentive maths. Anyone who quotes you one fixed FSI number for “all” cessed buildings is over-simplifying. Work out your own plot’s realistic potential with the FSI calculator, and use the additional-area calculator to sanity-check how much extra carpet your family should reasonably receive.

MHADA’s share of the new building

Because the extra FSI in a cessed scheme is granted by the State through MHADA, MHADA does not give it away for nothing. Under the 33(7) family — particularly the formula-based 33(7)(A) route — once the entitled or incentive FSI crosses defined thresholds, MHADA is entitled to a share of the additional built-up area, or an equivalent in constructed housing stock or premium paid in lieu. This is how the State replenishes its affordable-housing stock while private redevelopment is enabled.

What this means for you as a member: MHADA is effectively a third stakeholder in the project alongside your society and the developer. The MHADA-share flats are handed to the authority for its own allotment and do not reduce what eligible occupants receive — but they are a real cost the developer factors in, which is exactly why the incentive FSI exists to balance the books.

The sequence is worth holding in your head, because it explains where MHADA’s share comes from. First the rehabilitation area is worked out flat by flat from the MBRRB-certified list — the carpet each eligible occupant actually holds, with the 27.88 sq m floor and the 120 sq m ceiling applied. Then the incentive is added on at 50% for a single cessed plot, 60% for a composite scheme of 2 to 5 plots, or 70% where six or more plots come together. Whatever FSI is still left on the plot after those two is the balance FSI. For redevelopment of Corporation buildings under this regulation, built-up area beyond rehabilitation and incentive is shared between MCGM and the society of occupants in the ratio 1 : 0.5. The exact sharing proportion and the conditions attaching to it are set by the applicable sub-regulation and MHADA’s current policy, so ask MHADA in writing for the figure that applies to your scheme rather than relying on hearsay.

What each occupant gets: minimum rehab carpet, free of cost

The core promise of a cessed redevelopment is that every eligible occupant is rehoused free of cost in a self-contained flat in the new building — and importantly, they move up from being protected tenants to owner-members of a new co-operative housing society, with proper title.

The entitlement rule: what you occupy, within a floor and a ceiling

Under Regulation 33(7) the rehabilitation area is not a percentage uplift. Each occupant is rehabilitated with the carpet area he actually occupied for residential purposes in the old building — subject to a floor and a ceiling:

Source: sanctioned DCPR 2034, Regulation 33(7), clause 2 read with sr. no. 5(a), 5(b) and the proviso to 5(b).

Three points members miss. First, the floor does the heavy lifting in old cessed buildings. Many cessed tenements are single rooms well under 300 sq ft, and every one of those occupants is lifted to 27.88 sq m regardless of how small the original room was. Second, the eligibility list and the area occupied by each person are certified by the Mumbai Repairs and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), not by the developer — that certified list is the document your entitlement rests on, so get a copy. Third, if your carpet area exceeds 120 sq m, the excess is not free: you pay the developer the cost of construction as per the ASR of that year for the area above 120 sq m, and that excess counts towards rehabilitation FSI but not towards incentive FSI.

Arithmetic: base carpet × 1.05, 1.08 or 1.15. Occupant C is already at the 120 sq m ceiling, so the percentage adds nothing for him.

That table is the practical lever for a cessed society. Your own entitlement is largely fixed by what you already occupy — but the number of plots in the scheme is negotiable, and it moves both the incentive FSI and every member’s carpet. For occupant B, going from a single plot to a six-plot scheme is 4.6 sq m — about 50 sq ft — of free extra carpet, on a figure the regulation gives him rather than one he has to bargain for. Check the MBRRB-certified area against your own measurement before consenting, and get the resulting carpet area written into the PAAA in square metres, never in a brochure.

One drafting point for your PAAA. For rehabilitation purposes, Regulation 33(7) clause 2 gives “carpet area” its own meaning: the net usable floor area within the tenement, excluding the area covered by walls and anything exempted from FSI computation, but including a balcony if that balcony is free of FSI under the regulation in force. That is not identical to the RERA definition used for the sale flats, so specify in the agreement which measure your number is on.

Beyond the flat

• Transit rent: a monthly rent the developer pays so your family can rent alternative accommodation during construction, or transit accommodation provided directly.
• Corpus / hardship amount: a lump sum to cover the inconvenience of moving and future maintenance. DCPR 2034 does not fix a corpus figure for the 33(7) route, so it is negotiated — but the regulation does fix one for the cluster route under 33(9): a minimum of Rs 50,000 per tenement, meant to fund maintenance of the rehabilitation building for 10 years. Treat that Rs 50,000 as your floor benchmark, not your target.
• New amenities: lift, water storage, parking and other facilities the old cessed building never had.

Compare competing developer proposals side by side — carpet area, corpus, transit rent, bank guarantee and timelines — using the offer comparison tool so you are judging the whole package, not just the headline flat size.

Cessed-tenant protection: your legal safety net

Cessed occupants are among the most heavily protected in Maharashtra, precisely because they were vulnerable protected tenants to begin with. Key protections:

• You cannot simply be evicted. A landlord or developer cannot redevelop over the heads of protected occupants; rehabilitation of every eligible occupant is a condition of the scheme.
• Permanent Alternate Accommodation Agreement (PAAA): each occupant signs a registered PAAA that records the exact carpet area, corpus, transit rent and timeline promised to them. The Section 79A redevelopment directive dated 4 July 2019 requires the Development Agreement (DA) and each PAAA to be registered, and under Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 documents creating rights in immovable property must be registered to be fully enforceable. An unregistered promise is a weak promise.
• Title and conveyance: because many cessed plots are owned by a private landlord, securing ownership of the land for the new society matters. Under Section 11 of MOFA (the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963) the promoter must convey title to the society; where they refuse, Section 11(3) allows deemed conveyance through the Competent Authority (the designated District Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies).

If a developer starts diverting money, refuses to register PAAAs, or stalls the project, that can amount to criminal conduct — cheating under Section 318 or criminal breach of trust under Section 316 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 (which replaced the old Indian Penal Code). Learn the warning signs on our frauds & scams pages before you commit.

Consent and choosing a developer: the 79A process

If your society is driving the redevelopment (rather than the landlord or MHADA), the developer-selection process is governed by the Section 79A directive of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 dated 4 July 2019. In brief, it requires:

• A requisition by not less than one-fifth (1/5th) of members to start the process;
• A Special General Body Meeting with a quorum of two-thirds (2/3rd) of total membership;
• Approval by not less than 51% of the total membership strength — not just of those present;
• The shortlisted developer must have at least one MahaRERA-registered project;
• A developer bank guarantee of 20% of project value;
• Completion within 2 years of the plinth commencement certificate (3 in exceptional cases);
• The developer-selection meeting to be video-recorded in the presence of the Registrar’s authorised officer; and
• No committee member or their relative may be the developer.

Our detailed 51% consent rule page breaks down every threshold and the documents you need. Getting consent right is what makes the whole scheme legally clean.

RERA safeguards for the sale flats

The free-sale flats in a cessed scheme are covered by RERA, 2016 / MahaRERA. Under Section 3, a project must be RERA-registered before it is advertised or sold (with a small-project exemption under Section 3(2) for land up to 500 sq m or up to 8 apartments). Section 4(2)(l)(D) requires 70% of buyers’ money to be kept in a separate scheduled-bank account, withdrawn only in proportion to construction and audited annually by a chartered accountant. Section 14 bars changing sanctioned plans without the consent of at least two-thirds of allottees, and Section 14(3) gives a 5-year structural-defect liability. Section 18 entitles buyers to a refund with interest, or interest for the delay, if possession is late. Usefully, MahaRERA has held that a redeveloping society can itself be a promoter or co-promoter — which strengthens a self-redeveloping society’s standing.

Tax touchpoints for members

Two provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 are worth knowing. Under Section 45(5A), for an individual or HUF in a registered redevelopment / joint-development arrangement, capital gains are taxed in the year the completion certificate is issued — not when you sign the agreement — and the consideration is taken as the stamp-duty value of your share plus any cash you receive. Separately, under Section 194-IA, a buyer of the free-sale flats must deduct 1% TDS where the price or stamp-duty value is Rs 50 lakh or more (filing Form 26QB within 30 days of the month-end). These are general pointers, not personalised tax advice — confirm your position with a chartered accountant.

What this means for your society

If you live in a cessed building, redevelopment under 33(7), 33(7)(A) or 33(7)(B) is often the only realistic path to a safe, modern, owned home — but the deal quality varies enormously. The practical checklist:

1. Establish four facts first: your cess category, the correct eligible-occupant list, the carpet area of every flat in square metres, and the demarcated plot area and abutting road width in metres. Without those four you cannot check a single number a developer gives you.
2. Check your entitlement yourself: under 33(7) it is the carpet you actually occupy, lifted to a floor of 27.88 sq m (300 sq ft) and capped at 120 sq m (1,292 sq ft) — and verify that figure against the MBRRB-certified list, not the developer’s.
3. Ask whether neighbouring cessed plots can join the scheme: a single plot carries 50% incentive FSI and no extra carpet; a composite scheme of 2 to 5 plots carries 60% and 8%; six or more plots carries 70% and 15%.
4. Model the plot’s FSI with the FSI calculator — starting from your road-width band (1.33 only if the road is less than 9 m, jumping to 2.00 at 9 m and reaching 3.00 at 27 m and above in the island city) — instead of trusting a developer’s single FSI claim.
5. Run a clean 79A process and hit the 51% consent threshold properly.
6. Insist on registered DA and PAAAs with every number written in, plus the 20% bank guarantee.
7. Confirm MHADA’s share and approvals in writing so there are no surprises later.

If your building is well organised, it is worth registering your society with us so you get structured, step-by-step help through the process — entirely at your own pace.

Where to find the official rule

The regulations themselves sit in the notified DCPR 2034 for Greater Mumbai (published by the Government of Maharashtra / MCGM); the cess and reconstruction framework is in the MHADA Act, 1976 and administered by MHADA / MBRRB; RERA obligations are on the MahaRERA portal; and the tax provisions are on the Income-tax portal. Always cross-check the current, notified text and MHADA’s latest circulars, as figures and shares are revised from time to time.