Bringing respite to the hapless residents of Suncity in Gurgaon, the Department of Town and Country Planning has issued a written order to the builder, asking it obtain the completion certificate. It has also directed the builder to stop collecting the common area maintenance fee (CAMF). If it did, police action would be initiated.
A copy of the order has been sent to the Suncity group chairman.
The Suncity RWA and the developer have been at loggerheads over the past one year.
The RWA had entered into an agreement with the builder in 2008 about CAMF. The builder had already collected an interest-free Rs 18 crore deposit under CAMF, which included five essential services — water supply, roads, streetlights, horticulture and sewage.
The RWA also had an agreement with the builder for value-added services, such as collection of garbage and security. The builder charged a certain amount for these services every month.
Until June 2016, everything was fine. But after that, the builder started collecting CAMF, while at the same time stopping all value-added services. When the residents protested, the builder stopped electricity supply as well.
The RWA alleges that the builder has been using the CAMF funds to provide value-added services. Also, different agreements have been worked out with different residents — something that’s illegal.
The builder even continued to collect CAMF, despite the deputy commissioner’s directive to stop doing so. It even refused to submit all documents pertaining to agreements with buyers.
RWA president Kuldeep Rana said, “This order will definitely give some relief to residents. The builder now has to obey the orders, otherwise police action will be initiated. It had taken interest-free maintenance security [IFMS] of Rs 18 crore from us. It used this money to provide value-added services, for which we were already paying every month. And what about the interest that the builder was earning from the IFMS?”
RWA advisor Abhay Punia said, “The builder is not willing to produce all the documents. There are different agreements with different buyers — which is tantamount to fraud. It has to stop collecting CAMF — it even sent bouncers to the society for collection!”
