Noida homebuyers’ protests intensify as they approach the Indian President

A car and bike rally protest were conducted this Sunday at Char Murti Chowk by disgruntled allottees who claim to be waiting for as many as 13 years for possession of their flat. More than one lac homebuyers from over 25 housing projects are affected. Homebuyers in Greater Noida now intend to send a large number of postcards to the President after protesting ceaselessly for 10 Sundays over the delay in receiving possession of and registration of their flats.

One of the primary reasons for the delay in registration is due to non-payments of dues by builders to the local authorities. The builders and authorities have been unable to settle on a rate of interest to be paid and therefore the authorities have halted issuance of all necessary approvals for the project to be completed and registrations to take place.

Due to the acrimony between builders and local authorities, thousands of homebuyers are suffering harsh consequences by way of having to pay hefty interest on home loans and not being avail a loan against a property because they are not officially registered as owners. Further, the flats cannot be sold in the open market at a fair price because of the unsteady title. As a result, desperate buyers must either sell at a heavy loss or continue paying their EMIs indefinitely.

The president of the New Era Flat Owners Welfare Association (NEFOWA) Abhishek Kumar spoke to ET Realty about their frustration due to the lack of support. According to him up till now not a single MP, MLA, or Noida Authority official has sided with them or even taken note of their protest. Homeowners believe they have been treated as a mere voter base, ignited only during elections to win seats. Many have almost given up on actually being able to register and take possession of their homes. Due to this apathy, the homeowners have decided to being sending postcards to the President of India as a last resort.

On Christmas morning last year, homebuyers from over 15 residential complexes got together in Noida to protest the delay in registration of their houses. These buyers have purchased flats in popular projects such as Supertech Eco Village Ajnara Homes, Apex Golf Avenue, JM Florence, La Residentia, Casa Greens One and Amaatra Homes. The demonstrators had forewarned authorities of a "massive agitation" in the coming days and claimed they would continue to march every week until their demands were realised.

Builders are attributing the delays in debt payments to reasons beyond their control such as the COVID pandemic. Further, many plots assigned to them lacked descriptive titles and construction activity was temporarily prohibited by the NGT order in corelation to the endangerment of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. The state took a long time to announce a resolution to the farmers’ compensation which is said to have caused more delays. Lastly, in the installation of essential infrastructure such as power and road access were not created within the stipulated time frame by the concerned authorities which delayed the handing over of plots to the builders.

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Noida homebuyers’ protests intensify as they approach the Indian President

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