Errant builders have made Noida a nightmare for home-buyers

The mess

In Greater Noida, many of the builders have not been able to pay the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, the land dues which are mandatory for getting an occupation certificate. According to reports the builders owe Rs 300 crore to the GNIDA. Without the occupation certificate, the transfer of the ownership of the apartments from the builders to the owner cannot take place. The Chief Executive Officer of GNIDA, however, assured that they are trying to solve the issues.

In neighbouring Noida, there are reportedly, 50,000 to 70,000 home buyers who are suffering for the last 4-5 years. With 86 of the 127 under construction projects awaiting an occupation certificate, the buyers are in the blue. Some of them, who have been allotted the apartments, and have paid the registration money to the builders are still waiting for their papers. Buyers have reportedly claimed that all they got were blank stamp papers from them instead of the legal ownership documents that they were expecting.

While the builders claim that the Noida authority is delaying in providing them with a no objection certificate which would pave way for their registration and their transfer to the buyer, the authority says that the builders have not paid up the dues. According to some estimates, builders owe the Noida authority a whopping sum of Rs 7,200 crore as land dues for the land which was allotted to them between 2006 and 2009. While there are several thousand others who are waiting for the projects to complete. It was Mayawati's BSP government which was in power in Uttar Pradesh from 2007 to 2012.

Recently, after a massive outrage on social media against Amrapali builders, one of the many who have failed to deliver to the buyers, the NOIDA had summoned Anil Sharma, chairman of the group and directed him to solve the issues. There have been many income tax raids on the group in the past for suspected tax evasion.

Even cricketer MS Dhoni came under the arc of the investigations back in 2014 when the IT department wanted to know the details of Rs 75 crore worth of post dated cheques issued by the Amrapali group to him. His spokesperson had then claimed that it was a security amount against his investments in the group.

After the recent outrage, MS Dhoni had to withdraw as a brand ambassador of the Amrapali group. His wife Sakshi Singh Dhoni is listed as one of the directors of a Amrapali group firm along with Anil Sharma. Sharma was also a JD(U) candidate from Jehanabad in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The NOIDA also constituted a six member committee to look into the grievances of the buyers and also to carry out surprise inspection checks on the projects where there are complaints.

Meanwhile, in another instance, after a complaint by the buyers, the GNIDA had ordered that 1009 flats and villas in a complex developed by Supertech group be sealed. The authority claims that it had only permitted construction of 814 apartment and villas in the Czar Complex of the Omicron 1 project in Noida.

The developer has denied any wrong doing and says that the additional units were constructed only after they had purchased floor area ratio from GNIDA and that they had submitted the revised building plan to the authority for approval. GNIDA says that the developer cannot seek permission after construction of the units. The developer has already sold half of the 1009 flats and villas.

This is not the first time Supertech is in trouble. In an earlier instance, the Allahabad High Court had ordered that two of the towers of Supertech's Emerald Court project be demolished as the developer only had permission to construct 24 floors but later raised it to 40 floors. The order was stayed by the Supreme Court and a final decision is awaited.

Edited by Aditya Menon

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