NEFOMA

NOIDA: There seems to be no end to the troubles of Noida Extension homebuyers. While the fate of the projects in the area remains far from clear, many developers have now begun sending letters asking buyers to "share the burden of enhanced compensation" that is to be given to the farmers or face "cancellation of their bookings." This is the second blow to the buyers as earlier they were sent demand letters asking for pending interests on their installments.

A few of the developers in the disputed Noida Extension-Greater Noida area have asked buyers to pay as much as "20 to 40 per cent of the total cost of the bookings" to share the burden of enhanced compensation. This is in spite of several requests from the developers body CREDAI to refrain from making any demands from the buyers at least till the Noida Extension projects become bankable again.

"I had booked a flat in Valencia Homes last January and had paid 10 per cent of the total cost at the time. Soon after, I paid another 20 per cent to get the allotment letter. Then, in September 2011, the developer asked me to pay 20 per cent more even though the project had landed in trouble as the land issue went to court. He warned that I would be penalized and charged an extra Rs 200 per square feet if I did not pay," said Latika Singh, a resident of Delhi. "The developer has now sent a cancellation letter saying that my booking is being cancelled and I must pay an extra Rs 125 per sq ft to retain the same," she said.

"Many developers, including known names like Valencia Homes, Palm Olympia, etc have sent demand letters and now cancellation letters to buyers saying that since the Greater Noida Authority has asked them to pay enhanced compensation, the existing buyers also must share that burden," said Sarvesh Chaturvedi, who has booked a flat with Devika Gold Homz. "Even though the builder-buyer agreement has room for imposing burden of additional levies, fees, etc on the allottees, how can they expect middle-class buyers like us to pay up when the banks have stopped disbursing loans and the work on our flats remains stagnant?" he asked.

There is much ambiguity regarding shifting out buyers from the Shahberi projects as well and many buyers complain that they are yet to be allotted alternate flats as promised by developers after the land in the village was denotified by the Supreme Court earlier last year.

The buyers' associations, thus, have now scheduled a meeting with these developers on January 8 to "plead their case." If the matter still remains unresolved, the NCR wing of CREDAI will arrange for a meeting of such developers with the buyers. Earlier, on several occasions, CREDAI had assured the existing buyers that no extra cost due to the enhanced compensation deals would be imposed upon them.