Gurgaon: Allottees’ meeting questions service charge by developers

Gurgaon DC Vinay Pratap Singh said it isn’t reasonable for builders to levy 1-1.5% service charge for registration on homebuyers

The Allottees’ Grievance Redressal Forum (AGRF) on Tuesday observed that collection of service charges by developers and that too at 1 to 1.5 per cent of the cost of the apartment, was not reasonable and on the higher side. Questions were also raised about the practice of registering apartments only through the office of the developer.

Gurgaon deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh chaired the Allottees’ Grievance Redressal Forum on Tuesday. (Parveen Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Questioning the rationale of such high fees, Vinay Pratap Singh, Gurgaon deputy commissioner who chaired the meeting, said that it was not reasonable to demand 1 to 1.5% service charge as it translated into a large amounts. “Across Haryana, the maximum fee for registration is around ₹15,000 and the excess demand cannot be justified,” said Singh while hearing the complaint against Vatika City developers.

RS Bhath, district town planner (DTP) Gurgaon, asked the developers to give a detailed breakup of the charges being levied on buyers, so that these can be studied. The forum decided that decision in this regard would be taken post-Diwali, as the charges were too high.

In another case, the DC Gurgaon directed Unitech to prove that a direction from high court was preventing it from carrying out demarcation in Vista Villas. “There should not be a problem in identifying the plot and demarcating what the buyers own. They have made it clear that there will be no violations in common areas,” Singh said.

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In a significant decision, the forum asked the DTP, Gurgaon to initiate a process whereby the Woodstock apartment owners, which is a part of Nirvana country become a part of the RWA and the maintenance is carried out by a single entity. Hearing both Woodstock residents as well as Nirvana RWA, the DC observed that both the residents’ groups should come together and work as a single entity for welfare of the area.

RS Bhath, DTP, Gurgaon said that a meeting will be held with both the groups along with Unitech to identify deficiencies and work out modalities so that things work out smoothly in the licensed colony, which is spread across 260 acres.