Gurgaon becoming Venue of Tussle between Residents and Builders
Various issues ranging from possession delays to illegal selling off of the common areas and facilities by builders makes Gurgaon venue of a tussle between residents and builders. Flat owners pay for the common areas and facilities in the form of sale price and internal and external development charges. But Builders use the common facilities, convert community centres into club-cum-restaurants etc. Some builders even retains common areas and facilities and earn money from them.
According to B K Dhawan, convener and president of the Federation of Apartment Owners Association Haryana, “Builders use the common facilities in the complex for their own benefits/ incomes by selling car parking, convenience shops, schools and EWS units. They also convert community centres into club-cum-restaurants, etc and earn money from them. Under the Act, builders cannot use these common facilities for private gains and they have to be handed over to the flat buyers before the builder makes an exit.” Flat owners pay for the common areas and facilities in the form of sale price and internal and external development charges and the Act clearly states they are the property of the residents.
According to Atul Batra, president of Heritage City RWA, “The developers have sold off the parking spaces, which should have been ideally handed over to the RWA, for making their own profits. All this is against the Act and was not mentioned in our sale agreement.”
Nevertheless, analysts and developers emphasize that the buyer should be careful in reading the fine print while signing an agreement and, if possible, seek legal advice on the matter.
The CCI order on DLF for misuse of their dominant share in the market, seems to be just the beginning of a tilt in favour of the consumer. However, according to Manoj Goyal, senior vice-president, Raheja Developers Ltd, there might not be any immediate change in the sector with the CCI order. “Change can be expected once the proposed real estate regulatory bill which has a provision to deal with all issues which has been highlighted or on which the judgment is based, will come into effect,” he said.
Developers on the whole maintained that real estate needed drastic and quick legal and statutory reforms as the present acts and rules are not clear and ambiguous. “In fact, this judgment may create confusion amongst the buyers and may increase the litigation or unwanted consumer disputes,” Goyal said.
CCI India, Common Area, Competition Commission of India, Federation of Apartment Owners Association Haryana, Gurgaon, Gurgaon becoming Venue of Tussle, Gurgaon delhi, Gurgaon real estate market, Haryana, Illegal selling off of the common areas
