Home buyer feels cheated by Goel Ganga Group

After booking a two-bedroom apartment of their choice in a project by city builder, Goel Ganga Group, a serving army officer, Major Harshinder Thakur, and his wife Preetika were shocked to know that the price of the apartment had been raised by almost 20% in six months.

The couple had booked the apartment measuring 915 square feet for Rs2,700 per square foot (PSF) by paying a token amount of Rs1 lakh in June last year in Ganga Sparsh, in Undri. But the developer hiked the PSF to Rs3,200 by January this year.

The couple was left with two choices: accept the new PSF price or take back the booking amount and cancel the booking.

“Accepting either of the two options is unfair to us. We zeroed down the project keeping several aspects in mind, including the reputation of the builder. Six months later, he can’t tell us either to pay more or cancel the booking because we won’t get another apartment for the same price in the same area. If we had known that the apartment would be beyond our budget we would have gone to another builder and not lost out on time,” argued Preetika.

The managing director of the Goel Ganga Group, Atul Goel said, “I can understand the couple’s predicament. But I am helpless as the project got delayed due to certain revision of plans that we had to apply for after the town planning department changed its by-laws. Our sanctioned plans had to be put up for revision, which took almost a year.”

Goel said the group is willing to return the booking amount with interest and have also offered them the apartment at Rs3,000 PSF, even though the present selling price is Rs3,500 PSF. “I don’t want to jeopardise our relationship with our customers,” he added.

The builder’s explanations did not cut ice with the couple, who claimed that they have already incurred a cumulative loss of about Rs50,000 as a result of the delay. “We don’t want to accept this type of behaviour since it is principally not right. We can accept his new quoted price, but we fear it would set a bad precedent and would be unethical,” reiterated Preetika.

According to city based eminent consumer activist, Sudhakar Velankar, the builder is bound by the price he quoted initially. “Under the Contract Act he is bound by the paper work he issued to the buyer wherein a price of Rs2,700 PSF is quoted specifically and for which he took the booking amount,” he said.

According to Velankar, if the builder doubted that the project was not feasible in the price quoted in June 2010, he should have issued a supplementary contract highlighting probable price escalation.

While the stand-off between the parties continues, the Thakurs have written to the Pune chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India on February 1, 2011, seeking their intervention, but are yet to receive any response.

  Followings are another complaints on Era Landmarks India Ltd:

• NGT ORDERS FRESH INSPECTION OF GOEL GANGA PROJECT SITE

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Arrest warrant issued against builders - Era Landmarks India Ltd

Arrest warrant issued against builders - Era Landmarks India Ltd

The Haryana Police has issued an arrest warrant against four directors of ERA Land Mark Pvt Ltd (ERA Builders) in Gurgaon after it received several complaints from home buyers. Two FIRs have been registered against the company for fraud and cheating in Gurgaon’s Rajender Park police station.

According to police, the fraud could run into crores. Police said the home buyers have alleged that they had invested in luxury properties of the company in Gurgaon. However, the builder kept delaying the projects.

After receiving complaints, Gurgaon police informed the District Town and Country Planning Department, which found out that the builder had not even begun construction. According to a senior district administration official, most of the projects were to be constructed close to Dwarka Expressway and Sector-106.

Police said ERA Land Mark Pvt. Ltd. had launched many residential projects for which they had taken crores of rupees from home buyers.

The District Town Planner Enforcement, Gurgaon, made a written complaint to police against the directors of the company that they had violated the rules of the projects for which they had secured licences. “There are a total of 21 FIRs registered all over Gurgaon against the builders,”Rajesh Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Gurgaon, said.

Followings are another complaints on Era Landmarks India Ltd:

• Three developers booked for cheating city homebuyers
• Fraud to the tune of 1000 + crore ruppes
• Citizen's journalist exposing ERA

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Shapoorji Pallonji buys 20 acres from BPTP in Delhi

Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate has bought 20 acres near Dwarka Expressway in New Delhi from builder BPTP to build a 2 million sq. ft affordable housing project

Mumbai/Bengaluru: Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, has bought 20 acres near Dwarka Expressway in New Delhi from builder BPTP Ltd, to build a 2 million sq. ft affordable housing project, said three people familiar with the development said.

BPTP is trying to settle all dues to foreign investors JP Morgan Chase and Co. and Apollo Global Management LLC by March 2018 and will use the money from this sale to pay off the last tranche.Though the deal size is not known, land brokers estimate the value of this transaction to be over Rs150 crore. This is the second land parcel that Gurugram-based BPTP has sold as part of its larger land monetization strategy. Earlier this year, it sold 14.8 acres along Dwarka Expressway to Godrej Properties Ltd.

BPTP chairman and managing director Kabul Chawla had told Mint in July that the sale of both these land parcels would help BPTP raise around Rs500 crore.

“Shapoorji Pallonji will build affordable homes under its Joyville brand on the parcel. The residential project will be about 2 million sq. ft in size,” said one of the three people mentioned above, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. The project is expected to cost over Rs800 crore and would be funded by a consortium of global investors which Shapoorji Pallonji had tied up with last year to build affordable homes across the country, said the second person mentioned above.

Earlier last year, the Mumbai-based developer joined hands with Standard Chartered Private Equity, International Finance Corporation (IFC)—an arm of the World Bank—and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for investing in the segment. The partnership will invest about $250 million to buy land, meet project approvals and develop infrastructure for the projects.

Both BPTP and Shapoorji Pallonji declined to comment.

Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, the housing development unit of the group, plans to invest Rs600 crore on buying land parcels this year to build a pipeline of projects, Mint reported on 20 June. These land parcels are in National Capital Region (NCR), Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. It is also planning to launch a project at Hinjewadi in Pune by the end of the year.

BPTP raised over $250 million from a clutch of investors who bought stake in the company during 2006-08. Most of the funds (from the land sales) would be used for giving its investors an exit, Chawla had said in the interview, while some of it will be used for its projects in Gurgaon and Faridabad.

The last two years have seen developers in NCR increasingly looking to monetise land either to reduce debt or complete their ongoing projects. In addition, the prolonged slump in real estate has forced builders to tie up with land owners and jointly develop projects.

“A few years back, a lot of developers in the region had acquired large land banks at a reasonable price. With huge projects coming up and also lot of debt piled up, the only option left for them is to sell their land parcels and use that money for completion of new projects and also reduction of the debt,” said Akash Bansal, national head, consulting at Liases Foras, a property advisory firm.

Besides, as sales are slow, most builders are looking to tie up with branded developers for joint development in a bid to improve sales, he added.

Few more complaints related to BPTP:

• Complain against BPTP "Kabul Chawala"
• Big developers, big delays: BPTP
• BPTP respond to queries over project delays

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Mortar holding together realty families crumbling - The Wadhwa Group

MUMBAI: The patriarchs toiled several decades to build large real estate empires. But, as their businesses spawned and the second generation moved in to take control, bitter rivalry and bad blood flowed.

Over the years, the booming property industry has witnessed acrimonious battles, splitting once well-knit families. Old-timers blame lack of traditional family values. Differences of opinion, jealousy and greed have pitted brash siblings against each other, fathers against sons and cousins taking their disputes to court. At times, these battles spill out into the public domain, but some quietly resolve differences among squabbling family members with dignity and in utmost secrecy. Sometimes, ambitious wives instigate their husbands against the family.

"When family grows faster than the business, the pie diminishes. The next generation will not work together and unless there is a separation plan ready, trouble will follow," says developer Vimal Shah.

Recently, Mumbai-based construction company Wadhwa Group, with 19 projects in Mumbai, Panvel and Pune, undertook what it described as a major "business restructuring". Its chairman Vijay Wadhwa carved out responsibilities and tasks for his son-in-law Navin Makhija and his relative Sanjay Chhabria. "We have not split. These are market rumours," both Makhija and Chhabria told TOI during a joint meeting last week.

People familiar with the goings-on in the Wadhwa empire, though, said Chhabria will soon chart out on his own. "Some of the group's ongoing projects and one of the firm's commercial towers in the Bandra-Kurla Complex will be handled solely by Chhabria," said insiders. Makhija and Chhabria both denied that there are differences between them.

Another major dispute to come out into the open is between developer Gopal Narang and his industrialist cousin Rajan Raheja, which threatens to wreck their Rs 2,000 crore realty firm, Windsor Realty. This company is a 50-50 joint venture between Narang and his family (comprising the Narang Group) and the Rajan Raheja family (which also includes his two sons - Akshay and Viren). Last year, Narang moved the company law board alleging the Rahejas with their considerably more financial clout want to buy out Narang Group's stake in the company at a throwaway price.

Raheja alleged that Narang colluded with employees of the company to ensure "insubordination and restricted the supply of information and reporting to the Rahejas, frustrating the functioning of the board". The battle has now moved to the Bombay high court where Narang, in his petition, said the Rahejas unilaterally stopped the sale of flats in the company's ongoing project at Oshiwara to financially oppress him.

The Hiranandani brothers, Niranjan and Surendra, split their real estate empire amicably almost a decade ago when the former's son, Darshan, entered the family business. Niranjan had then described it as "strategic readjustment".

Few more complaints related to Wadhwa Group:

• Builders not liable to pay for ‘justified’ delays: MahaRERA
• Sanjay Chhabria: Mumbai realty's go-to man
• Born of a scam, it's now 23 storeys high

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Builder of India's tallest residential building fined Rs 162 crore for violations

The controversial project has been embroiled in litigation for the past four years after NGO Janhit Manch dragged the developer, Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure Ltd (SRUIL), to court for large-scale violations.

The developer of Palais Royale, India’s tallest residential building (294 m), will have to pay the BMC Rs 162 crore as premium and penalties for constructing a 15-storey public parking tower at Worli Naka without permissions. Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta last week ordered the levy after the Bombay high court directed the commissioner to decide its fate following a petition challenging its legality.

The controversial project has been embroiled in litigation for the past four years after NGO Janhit Manch dragged the developer, Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure Ltd (SRUIL), to court for large-scale violations. The NGO said the public parking tower is illegal.

Under the state government’s cross-subsidy policy, the developer received permission to build a 15-storey parking tower in 2010, which it has to hand over free of cost to the BMC for public parking. In return, the developer will receive additional construction rights in the form of incentive floor space index (FSI) for the residential tower named Palais Royale.

However in 2011, the BMC changed its policy, restricting the height of public parking lots up to four floors. By then, SRUIL had procured construction permission only up to the plinth level. However, it continued to build the entire parking tower before Janhit Manch challenged the legality on the grounds that sanction was only till the plinth level. The municipal corporation too directed the developer to build the parking tower according to the new policy (four floors).

As much as 74% of the total built-up area (5.88 lakh sq ft) of the skyscraper has been shown as fire refuge area. This was sanctioned by the then chief fire officer when the building plans were approved about eight years ago. Mehta wants the fire refuge area reduced to around 30%; Mehta's predecessor Sitaram Kunte had ordered that they be restricted to just 4% of the built-up area. Mehta also ordered that large refuge areas outside each apartment in the 56-storey tower be punctured or blocked. This will prevent flat owners from illegally amalgamating the areas -adjoining the bedroom and drawing room --to the apartments.

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Possible Rs 300 cr scam in Andheri redevelopment project

Possible Rs 300 cr scam in Andheri redevelopment project

City’s well-known builder Rustomjee is under the lens for alleged irregularities in its redevelopment project at DN Nagar in Andheri. This comes after State Housing Minister Prakash Mehta accepted that prima facie, there seems to be a scam running into Rs 300 crore.

Replying to the attention motion raised by Congress MLA Naseem Khan, Mr Mehta said the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) has filed an FIR against Rustomjee builders, and the government is seeking final report of the investigation within 15 days.

In 2005, Vaidehi Akash Housing was chosen to redevelop eight buildings consisting of 480 flats. The company handed over the responsibility to Rustomjee Realty. As per the allegations, the company sold the commercial plots to around 300 people, but failed to handover possession. In addition, around 17,500 square meter FSI was added illegally, which led to irregularities worth hundreds of crores.

The builder was supposed to handover the possession to 480 original habitants of eight buildings by Gudhi Padwa (April 8). However, Mr Mehta informed that flat owners will now have to wait till Diwali. “Prima facie, there is an indication that irregularities have taken place. The EOW will submit its report, and action will be taken accordingly. Meanwhile, the government has decided to stay the construction on saleable area,” said Mr Mehta.

Mr Khan demanded the arrest of owners of Rustomjee, pointing out that the Housing Minister had himself acknowledged irregularities in the scheme. NCP leader Jayant Patil informed the assembly that the EOW has already recommended action against the builders. “Since the minister is not aware of this development, I assume that it is my duty to inform you that there is no need to wait for the report as it has already been submitted,” he said.

Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil asked the government reasons for not taking action against the builder. Mr Mehta said he was not aware about the completion of investigation by the EOW, and that he will gather complete information and initiate action at the earliest.

Read listed news related to Rustomjee Builder :

• FIR HEAT ON REALTOR IN JUHU BUILDING SCAM
• More than 300 buyers doing protest against builder

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Barrage of FIRs against duped Faridabad investors

Like hundreds of middle-class families, a bunch of multinational company employees settled in Delhi and its neighbourhood too had invested their hard-earned money in a residential project in Faridabad eight years ago in the hope of owning a home, but the developer never completed the project siphoning off several crores. And when they decided to fight against the injustice, refusing to be bogged down by threats, all of a sudden First Information Reports started cropping up against them at different police stations in far-off Agra.

The first FIR (138/13) at the Saiya police station was registered on November 23 last against Anupam Uppal, consultant with a leading IT technology firm, and Girish Kaul, a Ph.D. degree holder, who works for a reputed education foundation, on charges of duping an Agra resident of Rs.5 lakh in a land deal, trespassing and issuing threats. Both the “accused” are residents of Delhi.

Soon, another FIR was lodged at the Malpura police station on February 13 this year with a harsher charge of attempt-to-murder accusing Faridabad-based Saurabh Saraswat and Delhi residents Sanjay Nagpal and Jitender Thakur of duping a duo of Rs.4 lakh in a land deal and opening fire at them from a country-made pistol. While Mr. Thakur is an engineer with a Telecom MNC and Mr. Saraswat a technology consultant with a leading US MNC, Mr. Nagpal is a legal adviser and company secretary of a leading mining group.

The coincidence does not end with both the FIRs being lodged in Agra and containing similar charges, all the five “accused” are office-bearers of the 750-member Triveni Faridabad Allottees’ Association (TFAA) that has been waging a legal battle against Triveni Infrastructure Development Co. Ltd. for the past three years seeking possession of their flats in the company’s over-delayed projects in Sector 78 and 89 of Faridabad. Incidentally, the company’s directors Sumit Mittal and Madhur Mittal are also residents of Kamla Nagar in Agra.

Claiming innocence, Mr. Saraswat said the “accused” had strong evidence to prove that the charges against them were concocted. The passport records of Mr. Uppal show that he was on a three-month tour of Europe on the said date of crime. As for himself, Mr. Saraswat said: “I was present in office in Gurgaon as per the electronic attendance records and CCTV footage on the said date of crime. In fact, I have not been to Agra for years.” Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission has also sought a probe into the matter and directed the IG Police (Agar Zone) to conduct an inquiry and submit a report.

More news related to Triveni Infrastructure Development :

• Talk with retired D.I.G. of B.S.F. on being victim of Triveni Infrastructure fraud
• Retired D.I.G. of B.S.F. on being victim of Triveni Infrastructure fraud
• Unscrupulous builders slap false charges, intimidate homebuyers
• Triveni Infrastructure fraud busted, no possession even after 11 year
• Triveni investors' protest
• Triveni Infrastructure fraud all buyers

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Builder sold dream Homes on Non-existent plots - Arun Dev Builders

The Delhi police have busted a Rs. 300-crore real estate fraud with the arrest of an alleged fake builder, Manoj Bhardwaj, who was running several bogus companies in the Capital.

The police have received over 450 complaints against the accused from home buyers in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) over the past few years, and suspect that many more are yet to seek legal action against him. Bhardwaj, who projected himself as a builder/land dealer, operated in a manner similar to the script of Bollywood film Khosla ka Ghosla, in which a family sells off a government plot by faking it as its property. Bhardwaj also took his prospective buyers on a trip to plots that did not belong to him, said Ishwar Singh, DCP (South).

The lands Bhardwaj showed to the victims would have boards of his fake companies, most of which began with ‘Arun Dev’. “Initially, Bhardwaj started a company in the name of Arun Dev Builders Pvt. Ltd. Later, he started many other sister companies in the names of his relatives,” said the DCP on Tuesday. The Economic Offences Wings of the police in Delhi, Gurgaon and Faridabad had several received complaints against Bhardwaj from his clients. Many complaints were also being lodged at South Delhi’s Neb Sarai police station as the address mentioned in the receipts given to the victims mentioned the area. The South District police constituted a team and nabbed the accused from Devli village last week after receiving a tip-off on his movement.

Bhardwaj’s modus operandi was simple. He would lure prospective plot buyers through advertisements in newspapers. When a buyer would approach him, he would show the person vacant plots claiming that new colonies would come up there.

Also read another complaint - Builder Sold Dream Homes On Non-Existent Plots & now finally he Arrested - Arun Dev Builders

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Court notice to Real Estate major Indiabulls on cheating plea

A Delhi court has issued notice to Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd and its subsidiary firm Athena Infrastructural Ltd on a criminal complaint seeking lodging of an FIR against them for allegedly cheating buyers and embezzling funds. Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kapoor sought reply from 22 respondents including the builder, its directors and Delhi Police on the plea and listed it for arguments on December 23, the next date of hearing. “Issue notice to the respondents for the next date. Copy of the revision petition be also given to the prosecutor for the state,” the court said.

The revision petition was filed by a woman challenging the order of a magisterial court, dismissing her plea for lodging of an FIR against the builder and its officials, claiming that the trial court had ignored the issue of alleged conspiracy to commit the offences of criminal breach of trust, cheating, embezzlement of funds, dishonest inducement and misappropriation with fraudulent intention under IPC.

The petition, filed through advocate Arpit Bhargava, alleged Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd used Athena Infrastructural Ltd as a conduit to collect funds from gullible customers like his client saying that it was developing a project by the name of Indiabulls Enigma in Sector 110, Gurgaon. The flat was booked in November 2011 by paying Rs five lakh as booking amount and till 2014, the woman had made a total of payment over Rs 1.8 crore to the builder, it said.

The project was scheduled to be completed within three years from the date of signing of agreement, but neither the possession of the flat was handed over nor any information was given about its status, it said. The plea claimed the builder took 90 per cent of the total value of the property from the woman but it appeared that the project site was abandoned and neither the site nor connectivity from Dwarka Expressway seemed to be heading anywhere.

The petitioner has also approached the National Consumer Commission against the builder for deficiency in service and the matter is pending. “Respondents have not only cheated the petitioner of her hard-earned money but many others who bought units/apartments etc in the project Enigma. It is apprehended that more than Rs 500 crore have been collected by respondents in connivance with each other and there is a possibility that they may run away to a foreign country in case immediate action is not taken,” the petition said.

It said a complaint was given at Connaught Place police station but no action was taken and also added that during pendency of the criminal complaint, the woman received a cheque of over Rs 1.8 crore from the builder towards principal amount only in April 2016 and no interest.

Here are some more news related to Indiabulls Real Estate

• Moody's reviews Indiabulls Real Estate's B1 rating for downgrade
• Interesting order ! RERA not applicable if you had not committed any date ? Strange.??Indiabulls Panvel Project?
• MahaRERA quashes complaints of delayed possession in 2 projects ( Indiabulls Greens, Panvel and Indiabulls Savroli, Khalapur.)
• Flat not allotted after 7 years of booking

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NCDRC trashes Pune's Kumar Builders plea against compensation orders

A former director of Kumar Builders, appeared before the Bombay High Court on Tuesday as summoned and undertook to repay Rs 68 lakh to two flat buyers. The buyers, Samit Raut and his wife, had booked a large flat in a proposed 32-storey building. The building, yet to even get civic clearances, is a free-sale component of a redevelopment project in Lokhandwala, Andheri. Pranay Jain, another former director, though also summoned was abroad and did not appear. Jain spoke softly as Justice S J Kathawalla asked him why this was happening. He offered to refund the amount to the buyer with interest. His counsel Karl Tamboly said contrary to the Rauts' plea, there is a registered redevelopment agreement with Apna Ghar Cooperative Housing Society in Andheri with Kumar Builders. The buyers, through their lawyer Tushar Gujjar, had moved the HC for relief.

Justice Kathawalla in his order on Tuesday said, “Though he may have stepped down as director of Kumar Builder Mumbai Realty Pvt Ltd, he is in charge of the company and has taken responsibility of all Kumar Builders group companies. He undertakes to pay the principal amount of Rs 68 lakh to the Rauts by April 30.“ Asked when he would pay the interest component, Jain said within a month thereafter. The court directed him to pay an interest of 12% by May 30. The court also recorded that he undertook not to create any third party rights over the 25th floor flat the Rauts had booked. The Rauts, who live in Borivli, had booked a flat with a carpet area of over 1,000 sq ft in 2013. The price at the time was Rs 3.3 crore and they paid Rs 68 lakh. “This is the second such project of Kumar Builders which is stuck,“ Gujjar said.

Justice Kathawalla too, while summoning the Jains, observed on March 31, “This is one more case where it is alleged that directors of the Kumar group of companies have cheated buyers.“ In a separate case filed against Kumar Urban Development Pvt Ltd, the court observed last October, “It is clear innocent employees of the company are being used by people like Lalit Jain who are managing the company but resigned as directors to avoid legal consequences for lapses on their part and appointed employees as directors."

Read more news related to Kumar Builders:

• Mumbai builder booked for cheating flat buyers of Rs 22 crore
• KUL Ecoloch Flat Buyers & Lalit Kumar Jain, Kumar Builders
• Homebuyers file FIR against Kumar Builder over project
• NCDRC trashes Pune's Kumar Builders' plea against compensation orders
• Allahabad Bank scam: CBI conducts raids

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Omaxe Chairman, CEO & 2 Others Booked for Selling Govt. Land as Developed Plot in Indore

The realtor had constructed the colony, Omaxe City-1, by encroaching upon government land and sold the same portions to the complainant Puneet Govil, EOW superintendent of police Manoj Singh.

The economic offences wing (EOW) has booked four persons, including chairman and CEO of real estate firm Omaxe Ltd, for forgery and fraud in selling plots developed on government land to a customer in Omaxe City-1 township in Mayakhedi area of Indore.

The realtor had constructed the colony, Omaxe City-1, by encroaching upon government land and sold the same portions to the complainant Puneet Govil, EOW superintendent of police Manoj Singh told TOI. Govil had lodged a complaint with the EOW alleging that he had purchased nine plots in Omaxe City-1 in 2011, of which six were found to be on government land.

During investigations, the EOW investigators found that Govil had made the payments to the tune of Rs 16 lakh through cheques to Omaxe Ltd. He had also met firm’s chairman Rohtas Goel and CEO Mohit Goel in firm’s office in Delhi and brought the matter to their notice. No action was taken by them, EOW sources said.

In November 2012, Indore tehsildar had conducted a probe into government land being encroached upon by the builders on Omaxe City-1 project. It was found that the builders had encroached on 1.495 hectare of government land.

Subsequently, the tehsildar court had awarded a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Sanjay Gupta, who had appeared on behalf of M/s Shraddha Buildcon Pvt Ltd and M/s Navratan Buildtech Pvt Ltd. The tehsildar also ordered removal of encroachment. Govil’s plots were developed on the government land encroached by the builders, thereby directly indicating that the real estate firm had prepared fake maps of the township to sell plots to the complainant, EOW official said.

Following initial probe, EOW registered a case against Rohitas Goel, Mohit Goel, Omaxe Projects regional head Sanjay Gupta and project’s liaison officer Shashank Shekhar for fraud, criminal trespass and forgery.

Read more Complains related Omaxe Limited:

• Higher compensation for buyer if builder delays project
• 4 booked for fraud in selling government land as developed plot in Indore
• In UT consumer courts, biggest grievance against real estate firms
• Delay in handing over flat, Omaxe told to pay 5 lakh in Chandigarh

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Property launches dry up as govt delays RERA rules

New launches of residential projects have almost dried up as builders in Bengaluru await the implementation of the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) in the state.

Builders such as Sobha, Prestige, Brigade and Puravankara have all stopped new launches as they want to first look at the provisions of the final regulation before starting new projects. Since the central law orders retrospective inclusion of ongoing projects, builders are wary that hasty launches may land them on the wrong side of the law. “Once the Act is implemented, we will have a clear idea how to process ongoing projects and what is the time frame for registration,“ real estate association Credai Bengaluru's secretary Suresh Hari said.

Sobha managing director J C Sharma said that in view of RERA and GST, the company board had deemed it appropriate to defer providing guidance on the total residential space it wants to launch in the current fiscal. “What we all felt collectively was that till the transition doesn't happen, you do not know how to catch up or whether you can do it better,“ he said in a conference call last month. The Karnataka government was set to notify the RERA from May 1, an Act brought by the Centre last year to protect the interests of home buyers, and bring professionalism and accountability in the sector.

State officials have said the implementation is likely to get delayed as the government has shown no hurry to notify the rules and set up the regulatory body. This, they said, was because of pressure from small builders, especially those involving MLAs from Bengaluru, who are seeking relaxation of certain stringent norms under the Centre's Act. They want time to give possession of apartments to buyers to avoid penalty provisions under the Act for delayed delivery , and want the state government to ensure only those projects that were launched after the Act came into force on May 1 be brought under its ambit.

Sobha plans to launch new projects of about 0.5 million sqft (msf) in Chennai and 0.5 msf in North Bengaluru. “Implementation of RERA would be a key risk to this plan and could delay some launches,“ Edelweiss wrote in a recent note. Brigade Enterprises Limited, which launched just a single project in Bengaluru last fiscal, has a pipeline of 5 msf of residential projects spread over Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru and Chennai this year.

What has made matters worse for the builders is that neighbouring states such as Telangana and Tamil Nadu, which are also major markets for them, haven't implemented the Act either. The companies cannot even do pre-launch sales because the new law bans it. Prestige chairman Irfan Razack said there are still a lot of uncertainties around the rules. “New launches will happen once RERA is notified,“ he said last week.

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As housing sector suffers, real estate firms change conditions of land agreements

Real estate companies are changing conditions of land agreements as the housing sector plunges into a prolonged sluggishness. Joint development agreements (JDAs), which have been the most prevalent form of land development in the past three years, were predominantly revenue-sharing arrangements between landowners and developers. Now, with cash flow generation a massive challenge, deals are being worked out either by a profit-sharing or a stock-sharing arrangement. 

A stock split is when the landowner is awarded some stock, which might be in the form of apartments, in effect some kind of sharing arrangement of the saleable land area. Developers said there is no more scope to share revenues or any cash out option for landowners as monetising a project has become more tough. “Earlier landowners expected a payout as soon as a deal was signed for their proportion of land holding, but now payouts are liable in a few years,” said Gopal Sarda, CEO, Kolte Patil Developers. A profit-sharing deal is far from being an ideal arrangement. “It is better when risks and rewards can be clearly defined. It is tough to agree on cost estimations,” said Ashish Shah, COO, Radius Developers. Radius follows a JDA model in all its projects. Besides, there can be disagreements regarding which apartments to sell first, the landowners or the developing companies’, Shah added.

Still, at a time when capital raising is getting increasingly tough and estimates are that no meaningful recovery can be pencilled in before 18 months, developers don’t have a choice. Equally difficult is the position of landowners. “Ideally land owners don’t want to be saddled with permissions, construction timelines and sales; they would rather want an outright sale but there are very few buyers willing to pay for land,” said Anshul Jain, managing director of Cushman and Wakefield, India. m JDAs were pioneered by Mumbai-based real estate company Godrej Properties as an alternative capital light option to tap into expensive catchments. Majority deals that Godrej had struck were a 60:40 split with landowners, which soon became an industry standard.

In the recent slowdown, companies stuck with viable projects, but no construction finance held on to JDAs as a crutch and depended on pedigree partners to get moving. Along with Godrej Properties, Kolte Patil, Tata Housing, Wadhwa Developers and Radius have taken on beleaguered projects belonging to Unitech, DB Realty, Hubtown, Now and Rohan Lifescapes. But now even the financially healthier brand names are hedging well against risk; a 60:40 split is out of the question, said sources. It is leaning far more towards 70:30 in favour of the company that is arranging the finance and constructing the project.

Meanwhile, a Crisil research report said the housing sector will take 12-18 months to show signs of recovery. According to the report, sales are down across markets with buyers perceiving the market as unaffordable even as capital values have demonstrated a downtrend.

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NA Construction : 3 more Arrested - Cheated Buyers

Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Monday arrested three more accused in the multi-crore cheating case of NA Construction that duped hundreds of buyers by promising houses at affordable rates. The group launched housing schemes in different parts of the city and collected money from the buyers but didn't construct apartments. A cheating complaint which was first filed with Chand kheda police was transferred to Crime Branch later.

Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested key accused Nilesh Shah, 48, a resident of Shiv Ganesh society in Thaltej gaam, Ritesh Patel, 38, a resident of Shree Avenue in Ghatlodia, from S G Highway and Nilesh Shah's father Mukundrai Shah, 85, who was evading arrest for the last two months. Earlier, Crime Branch had caught Rupesh alias Naniyo Shah, 39, a resident of Joshi was in Navrangpura gaam, and secured his remand. During the investigation, the police came to know that NA Constructions has two bank accounts with Punjab National Bank and AXIS Bank.

"The accused accepted booking amount from about 3,000 people for 2,200 houses. The accused collected Rs 11,000 from each member and after a draw of lot they accepted Rs 2.5 lakh from each buyer. After collecting the money, they asked the buyers to wait for some time. However, when construction did not take off and people started demanding their money back, they went underground," said the police. It was Girish Khatri, a resident of Kanti Park in Ghatlodia, who lodged a complaint against the accused that unearthed the scam.

          

                    

Read more News NA Constructions

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Tripartite meetings futile, waste of time, say Noida homebuyers - Ajnara Group

Miffed by the lack of progress on ground, homebuyers on Wednesday said the Noida authority’s tripartite meetings of builders, buyers officials are a futile exercise as officials are not serious about these meetings.

The Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities have been holding tripartite meetings, aimed at resolving realty issues, since April 12 following orders from chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Homebuyers vented their anger at officials after realty firm Ajnara Group’s managing director Ashok Gupta did not turn up for the meeting at the given time on Wednesday.

Ajnara Group had in 2009-10 launched Daffodil housing project in Sector 137. The project was to be delivered in 2014, but the builder delivered it one year later. “The construction quality is poor as there are cracks in the walls and roof. Registry is not happening due to the fault of the builder. There is seepage in the basement, parking space is inadequate and the plaster is falling apart. The builder also has not paid a penalty for delayed possession,” said Vivek Sharma, a buyer.

“I had to spend Rs 1 lakh on repairing cracks. Contractor said the flat design is faulty and it will create problems in the future. Common facilities provided are of poor quality and sanitation issues abound,” said Anil Kashmiriya, another buyer. There a total of 14 towers with 1,087 apartments, of which 40% are occupied. Ashok Gupta said, “We will pay the late penalty to buyers as per builder-buyer agreement. We have not used poor quality material. We are committed to resolving all issues faced by buyers.”

Ajnara Heritage home buyers also alleged that the builder is yet to provide the facilities promised. Ajnara Heritage was launched in 2010 with a promise of delivery by 2013. “The Heritage society is surrounded by vacant land, where the builder is dumping sewage and waste, thereby causing many sanitation issues,” said Ashok Kumar, a buyer. “We have directed the builder to address issues of homebuyers at the earliest. We reached the meeting late because we were busy with another meeting with bankers. We are taking these meetings seriously,” said Santosh Kumar, officer on special duty, Noida authority.

Around 100 builders collectively owe Rs 25,000 crore to the Noida authority in land dues. The planning department has issued occupancy certificate without common facilities such as lifts, club, pool and fire safety systems in place to many projects. The authority CEO has not taken any action on such cases despite the fact a committee was constituted after each tripartite meeting to probe into the irregularities in each project.

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Police custody of two builders extended in fraud case - WS Developers

A magisterial court here on Saturday extended the police custody remand of two directors of a construction firm in a case of defrauding prospective home buyers.

The accused, Jayant Chandrakant Waydande and Yogesh Vasant Shelar, had made false and misleading claims about development of residential schemes at locations on the eastern outskirts of the city. Waydande and Shelar, directors of WS Developers, were arrested on May 9 by the Swargate police after one of the buyers lodged a complaint alleging cheating and fraud by the firm.

In March 2012, the complainant, Vilas D Ghadge, who lives in Kothrud, had booked a 740 sqft 2BHK flat in Shrushti Orbit scheme proposed by the firm at village Kolewadi off Pune-Ahmednagar Road in Haveli taluka. The firm promised delivery of possession of the flat by 2015 but construction work at the site never took off. Inquiries by Ghadge at the talathi and sub-registrar's office revealed that the land where the scheme was proposed to come up did not belong to the firm.

The court on May 10 had ordered Waydande and Shelar's remand in police custody for four days to facilitate further probe. On Saturday, the Swargate police produced the accused before first class judicial magistrate Sheetal Bangad and sought their further remand in police custody as more than 250 complaints of similar nature were received against them. Lawyer Nilesh Bhandari, who is representing Ghadge, told TOI, "The firm has floated other schemes at different locations including Wagholi, Wade Bolhai and Ranjangaon."

Lawyer Suchit Mundadha, who appeared for the two accused, submitted that the police have already recorded statements of the owners of the land where scheme was proposed. He submitted that the firm had taken the land from these owners and planned to develop the scheme. The process was securing various permissions was also on. If anything, it was a case of delay in delivery of possession, he argued.

Also read Fresh fraud case filed against two builders - WS Developers

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Builder duo who duped buyers for years caught - AVJ Heightss

Two absconding directors of AVJ height builder's group were arrested by the Gautam Buddh Nagar police on Thursday. The accused duo, Vinay Jain and Vipin Agarwal have been alleged for taking multiple booking on a single flat unit. They have duped people of over Rs 22 crore. 

Anuj Kumar, Station House Officer, Surajpur Police Station, Greater Noida stated that on Thursday after they got a tipoff that the both the directors will be visiting site office of AVJ heights located in sector Zeta-1, Greater Noida. "A team was sent to the spot from where we have arrested both of them. They were absconding for past few months. Around 62 complaints have been registered against them for selling a single unit of flat to multiple buyers," said He also stated that the investigation revealed that the duo sold the same flat to more than three buyers. "Around Rs 22 crore have been duped by them. Based on the complaints from home buyers we were searching the alleged directors of the builder's at different places. Both the directors are under police custody and we are carrying further investigations" added Kumar. 

According to a home buyer, Grish Sajwan, in 2012, he had booked a 2BHK flat in AVJ heights. Though the builder was supposed to hand over the possession to him by 2014, they failed to do so. "Even after two years of delay in getting the possession of flat I insisted the builder to get me the possession over the flat as I was suffering under the dual burden of EMIs and Rent. After making several complaints to the builder, when he failed to resolve my issues I visited my flat to check the progress of construction work. It was quite shocking for me that I found some other family already living in my flat". 

Grish also stated that there was no registration process. "The other buyer of same flat was provided the same documents as I have. I tried to contact the builder but I got no response from them. So I filed a case in court against the builder and demanded to refund my money as soon as possible. There are over hundred such cases in the project where the same flat is sold several times by the builder" added Grish. "A case has been registered against the duo directors under section 420, 467, 468, 471 IPC in Surajpur Police station," said Anuj Kumar, SHO, Surajpur police station. 

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Developer fined Rs18 lakh for delay in handover of flat - Mahindra Lifespaces

A developer has been ordered to pay over Rs18 lakh for failing to hand over a flat in Bhandup to its buyers for about one-and-a-half years.

The additional district consumer forum for Mumbai suburban district directed Mahindra Lifespaces to pay interest at the rate of 10% a year on the Rs86.11 lakh paid by the buyers, Chakroborti VK Kondapalli and his wife Seetha, for the period of the delay. The forum also directed the developer to reimburse the Rs4.80 lakh that the couple had spent on rent during the period and Rs35,000 for litigation costs.

The couple had booked a 1,600-square-foot flat in a project by Mahindra Lifespaces at Bhandup and paid about 10% of the cost of the flat – Rs1.06 crore – in August 2009. The purchase agreement was executed the next month and possession of the flat was to be given by October 31, 2010. Though the couple had paid the remaining Rs 86.11 lakh by then, Mahindra Lifespaces delayed the possession of the flat and ultimately gave them possession of it in February 2012.

The couple then approached the consumer forum, seeking interest on the money they had paid at the rate of 12% a year, reimbursement of the amount of the rent they had paid during the delay, and compensation for mental agony and the cost of the litigation.

The developer contested the complaint, contending that the complainants had repeatedly asked them to make changes to the flat and at one point even asked them to change the entire flooring, claiming this is what caused the delay. Mahindra Lifespaces also objected to paying compensation, on the grounds that there was a specific provision in the flat purchase agreement that prevented the buyer from seeking compensation on account of delays in handing over possession.

The forum, however, rejected the developer’s contentions, noting that a unilateral clause in the agreement – which empowered the developer to charge interest on late payments but restrained the buyer from seeking compensation — was contrary to the law.

“Agreements contrary to public policy are void,” said the bench, comprising forum president SS Vyavhare and member SV Kalal, while holding the developer guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practices. “Clauses which go against public policy cannot be binding on the flat purchaser,” they added. A spokesperson for Mahindra Lifespaces said, “We are yet to receive a copy of the order and can only comment after we review it.”

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Two engineers arrested for duping Vascon of Rs 34 crore - Vascon Engineers

Two engineers arrested for duping Vascon of Rs 34 crore -  Vascon Engineers

The crime branch, Pune, on Thursday arrested two building engineers for allegedly duping the real estate company, Vascon Engineers, to the tune of over Rs 34 crore.

The suspects, Amol Shirodkar (27) of Thane and Rahul Sonawane (27) of Navi Mumbai, had surrendered to police, following directions from the Bombay high court.

Seeking their police custody, assistant public prosecutor Shilpa Mahatekar told the court that the custodial interrogation of the duo was essential as they had misappropriated the money by preparing forged bills of building materials, this after seeking the sanction of their superiors. And that their custody was required to find out if they had amassed any property with the fraud money.

The court of judicial magistrate first class S N Karakdande upheld the prosecutions plea and remanded them in police custody till May 13.

Police had earlier arrested the former vice president Manoj Kallur (48), a resident of Kanchan Galli, Law College Road, and site engineer Arvind Gangbaksh Singh after a complaint was lodged by Vascon's chartered accountant Muthuswami Krishnamurthy.

The fraud, that took place between November 1, 2007, and July 31, 2009, had come to light during the audit of the two projects -- Neelkanth Palacia and Neelkanth IT Park.

The company had found that the cost of the projects had been inflated with the submission of fake bills and tampering of records. The company also found that the good quality material had been sold as scrap.

Another complain on Vascon Engineers is 6 Vascon employees booked for fraud. 

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Mumbai: Court orders FIR against ex-SRA chief for giving govt land to builder as free sale plot

The SC had held that if the public servant had been transferred from the post in which the alleged offence took place, then there is no requirement for prior sanction to prosecute.

MUMBAI: A special Prevention of Corruption Act court has ordered that an FIR be registered by the anti-Corruption Bureau, against Vishwas Patil, former Mumbai suburban collector and chief executive officer, Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), his wife and two developers, Ramji Shah and Rasesh Kanakia.

Special judge A D Tankhiwale passed the order on a private complaint filed by a Malad resident and shop occupant, Hitendra Yadav, who alleged Vishwas Patil and others conspired to hand over a large government area as free sale plot, where Kanakia is constructing a luxury project called, Kanakia Levels. The allegation is that Patil, as Mumbai suburban district collector, conveyed a government land at Malad east to developer Ramji Shah, after his wife was made director in Shah’s Company. In a slum rehabilitation scheme, 44% extra land was given for development to the Kanakias, alleged Yadav’s lawyer Aditya Pratap.

Pratap argued that since Patil,a public servant, had retired in June, the law does not require any prior sanction to prosecute him in a corruption case. He cited three Supreme Court judgements, including a leading case of L Naranayana Swamy vs Karnataka which carved out a scenario when a public servant loses protection from harassment. The SC had held that if the public servant had been transferred from the post in which the alleged offence took place, then there is no requirement for prior sanction to prosecute.

Public prosecutor J V Desai opposed the plea stating that criminal procedural law doesn’t allow court to take cognizance of any offence by a public servant, except with prior sanction. The judge said, "The allegations involving criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy are serious and considering the facts, definitely an ACB investigation would be necessary." The judge said, "PCA, a special statute, prevails over the general law" and that going by the SC verdict "sanction is not warranted before referring the complaint to the ACB". He allowed Yadav’s plea and directed the ACB to register a FIR and investigate it in two months.

When contacted, Patil denied any wrongdoing. "I have not passed any files pertaining to this project as CEO, SRA. When I was collector, the land was acquired by additional collector (encroachment) for slum project. This land is not government land. As a collector I gave the land on lease to slum society as a routine matter. I have nothing to do with these builders. As a collector or even as a SRA, I did not grant any FSI to the society. On the contrary, there were complaints, so I issued inquiry on some points in last month even before the court order. There is no question of favouring anyone here."

Kanakia, when contacted, said, "We entered as joint venture partners in 2013 after all clearances were obtained and when almost 80 percent of land was already vacant and rehabilitation buildings were up." He said, "To my knowledge not a single file in this case had gone for approved to Patil when he was CEO, SRA." He said, "I don’t think anyone has done any wrong in this matter. We will pursue the case in court."

Ramji Shah said, "Yadav is a Malad resident who had earlier also gone to court against us when the SRA scheme and now a case is pending before the high power committee. We have committed no crime."

Pratap later said, "This is a significant order because senior bureaucrats think they have the protection of a prior sanction from government before any FIR is registered against them by ACB. Other cases under PCA which are stuck for want of sanction may now move on."

Kanakia Builder Cheated Poor People in Andheri

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FIR against builders for cheating flat buyers of Rs 120 cr - RNA Developers

111 flat buyers allege they did not get possession or registration deeds

The Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Wednesday registered an FIR against the directors of Skyline Constructions, a subsidi ary of RNA Developers, for cheating several flat buyers by neither giving them possession of their flats, nor registering their agreements. The Goregoan police registered a case against the builders for allegedly cheating at least 111 flat buyers to the tune of Rs 120 crore, the FIR said. It also said that a number of permissions needed for the project were missing.

According to the complainant, Nandan Shrivastav, a resident of Raheja Residency, Film City, Goregoan, he saw a flat in RNA Exotica -a project at Ram Mandir Station in Goregaon -and booked the 1,004-sq-ft apartment at a rate of Rs 7,463 per sq ft, which amounted to Rs 1.26 crore in total.

“From time to time, I paid the company money as was decided. But later, they were not ready to draw up the registration agreement. Only when I met one of the directors, Saranga Aggarwal, in January 2016, did they carry out the registration agreement,“ Shrivastav said in his statement to the police. Shrivastav was told by the company that a railway station would come up soon near the project, as also a flyover. He said Vaibha Assi, a manager at the project, also told him that there would be four wings with 42 floors each, and the project would have a clubhouse, jogging track and swimming pool.

He said that when he tried to meet Saranga or Gokul Aggarwal, they ini tially said that the project would be completed soon. But the delays continued and the directors later refused to meet the flat buyers. Shrivastav said he and others then realised that they had been cheated and went to the local police station. Police there asked them to approach the Economic Offences Wing as the value of the alleged cheating was more than Rs 3 crore.

The EOW has registered the case against Gokul Aggarwal, Anubhav Aggarwal and Saranga Aggarwal all directors of Skyline Construction, a subsidiary of RNA Developers. They have been booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust.

In all 111 buyers have claimed they were not given registered agreements, or that their flats were not registered, and they were not handed over possession of the flats despite paying most of the money. In all, 32 floors of the project are complete.

Sadiya Khan, who represents RNA, told Mumbai Mirror that it was not possible to comment on the matter as the directors were travelling.

To know more read this news:

• Allahabad Bank to auction RNA Corp's HQ to recover dues
• Buyers waiting from last 8 years
• HC asks Mira Road police to file status report on land dispute by October 12
• BUILDER DUPES BUYERS OF RS 15 CR WITH FAKE 33-STOREY BUILDING PLAN

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