Noida admin seals Supertech Group’s office over dues

The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration in India has sealed the offices of 10 realtors, including Supertech, for failing to pay land cost dues of INR502 crore ($73m). Offices of 51 realtors have been sealed in total, with assets being seized after the Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority issued recovery notices against those who defaulted on payments. The notice was issued in response to pleas filed by homebuyers and investors who demanded their money back from realtors who defaulted on delivery of housing projects.

Continuing its crackdown against defaulter builders, the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration has sealed offices of 10 realtors who failed to make payments despite recovery notices being served on them. In all, offices of 51 realtors, including real estate giant Supertech, were sealed. These builders cumulatively owed the authority ₹502 crore in land cost dues.On April 7, the administration formed 40 teams, comprising clerks and tehsildars, to identify the properties of defaulter builders and on Tuesday, it started seizing the assets.

“We have sealed the offices of 10 realtors, including that of Supertech Limited in Noida’s Sector 96, Radicon Vedantam in Noida Extension’s Sector 16C and LA Residentia in Greater Noida before the West. The sealing process is underway. Those builders who are paying the dues will not face action but defaulter assets will continued to be sealed,” said Alok Gupta, subdivisional magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar.

In the past one week, the administration has recovered about ₹20 crore from some realtors. However, the administration could not reveal the exact details of the action taken on Tuesday and Wednesday, said officials.“We are compiling the details and will soon make those details known. We are yet to prepare the list of realtors who have paid ₹20 crore,” said Gupta.

The administration action started after the Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP-Rera) issued recovery notices against 51 realtors, who defaulted on payment amounting to nearly ₹502 crore. The UP-Rera had asked the administration to recover the dues as per the law.

The UP-Rera issued the recovery directions in response to pleas filed by homebuyers and investors who demanded their money back from realtors, who defaulted on delivery of housing projects, said officials.

As per the process, if any realtor fails to deliver units, then the buyer has the right to file a plea before UP-Rera,demanding refund of their money.
The Supertech Limited termed the sealing action “illegal”.

“The action of the district administration in sealing the offices is illegal as the company is under corporate insolvency process. In view of the moratorium clause in the Indian Bankruptcy Code, no dues can be coercively recovered by any authority till the resolution process is over. The action of the district administration in sealing the offices, including that of the interim resolution personnel (IRP), would amount to contempt of court as well, the company sources said.

“The IRP has written to the district administration to de-seal the premises immediately, and is also planning to take up the matter with the National Company Law Tribunal/Supreme Court,” said a Supertech spokesperson.