Amrapali buyers worried as registration of flats yet to start

According to an estimate by the Noida authority, there are around 14,000 flat buyers in Sapphire, Silicon City, Princely Estate, Zodiac, Platinum and Eden Park housing projects.

Amrapali homebuyers on Friday said they were worried about the registry of their flats as even after 18 days of the Supreme Court’s order, the registration process was yet to begin.

High-rises of an Amrapali Group project at sector 76, in Noida (Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)

The Noida authority awaits clarity on issues such as who will complete the buildings for the occupancy certificates to be issued and which flats would be registered.

“We wrote to the court commissioner to get some clarity as to when and how the registries will start. We sought clarity where to deposit the remaining cost for the registration of the flats. We also sought a reply from the Noida authority. But even after 18 days, we are yet to receive any communication from the court commissioner and the Noida authority. The SC has given only one month’s time to finish registration but no headway has been made so far,” said RK Shrivastava, a buyer at the Amrapali Sapphire project in sector 45.

According to an estimate by the Noida authority, there are around 14,000 flat buyers in Sapphire, Silicon City, Princely Estate, Zodiac, Platinum and Eden Park housing projects.

The Amrapali Group had five years ago offered possession in the partially completed Sapphire project. Later they started giving possession in other incomplete projects with the promise that they will finish the remaining work at a later stage but it never happened, buyers said.

“We need clarity on who will provide requisite facilities (other than basic ones such as water and power) in buildings to be eligible for getting an OC. And who will be the third party in the lease deed execution,” said a Noida authority official, not authorised to speak to media.

The official said as no records are available with the authority about the details of payments made by homebuyers to the builder and dues, it is not possible for them to enter into a tripartite agreement for the registry of flats.

“We have written to the court receiver but nothing received so far. The process has to be initiated by them,” said Ritu Maheshwari, chief executive officer of the Noida authority

The SC had on July 23 directed the Noida authority to issue OCs without bothering about land dues for these projects and gave a month’s time to get registries done, officials said. However, the court receiver is yet to set up an office in Noida to address buyers’ queries. The SC on August 9 postponed the hearing for August 13.

“The SC on the next hearing will be able to give some clarity on flat registry and OCs, etc. We are waiting for the next hearing so our confusion is cleared,” said Kumar Mihir, advocate for homebuyers.

In its order, the top court had said,“We also direct Noida and Greater Noida Authorities to execute the tripartite agreement within one month concerning the projects where homebuyers are residing and issue completion certificates notwithstanding that the dues are to be recovered under this order by the sale of the other attached properties. The apex court also appointed a court receiver to carry out the execution of the tripartite lease deed.” Homebuyers who failed to get their lease deed done were elated with the order.