Noida’s additional charge recovery plan worries allottees of Jaypee Infratech

Thousands of homebuyers of Jaypee Infratech Limited, who are already suffering due to the delay in getting the possession of their units, may now have one more reason to worry if the Noida authority pushes forth a proposal to recover the ‘time extension charge’ from the realtor for failing to complete the realty projects within a stipulated timeframe.

Usually, the Noida authority imposes the time extension charge on realtors, except Jaypee Group with which it had a separate agreement, for failing to complete a realty project within stipulated timelines. However, the authority is likely to approve a new proposal that empowers it to levy these additional charges on Jaypee Group.

“We are likely to approve this new proposal in the upcoming board meeting because the realtor has been given way too much time to complete both housing and commercial projects. If the board approves the new proposal, we will start the process to levy these charges on the realtor,” said Ishtiyaq Ahmed, chief architect and town planner of the Noida authority.

In 2002, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) allotted 2,500 hectares of land (for housing purposes) to Jaypee Infratech for free as the developer built the 25km-long Noida Expressway and the 165-km long Yamuna Expressway. Jaypee Infratech got 500 hectares land each at five places- Noida, two pockets in Greater Noida, one in Agra and one in Aligarh area.

On the 500 hectares of land in Noida, the realtor has developed and delivered around 12,000 units. However currently, at least 20,000 units, including flats and plots, are yet to be delivered as Jaypee Infratech declared bankruptcy in August 2017 and all matters pertaining to the realty firm came under the jurisdiction of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Anuj Jain, the NCLT-appointed resolution professional handling matters of Jaypee group, was unavailable for comments.

The town planning department of the Noida authority has gone through the agreement made with Jaypee Group at the time of land allotment and have learnt that after a reasonable amount of time, the time extension charges can be imposed on Jaypee group, like other realtors, for failing to the project to homebuyers.

“In 2008, the Noida authority approved the maps of the realty projects on 500 hectares of land and more than a decade has passed since then. We cannot give unlimited time to this realtor. Therefore, we need to charge a penalty,” said an official of the Noida authority adding that the developer is free to recover these charges from the homebuyers.

According to rules, the authority imposes 4% of total property cost at the time of land allotment as time extension charge for a year. If the developer defaults the payment, the authority levies 1% more of the total property tax for every additional year, said officials.

Ashish Mohan Gupta, president of Jaypee Infratech Limited Real Estate Allottees Welfare Society, said, “We all aggrieved homebuyers, who have not received their homes for more than a decade, even after making the requisite payments on time, request all concerned authorities to help us get our homes. The authority should work out a proposal so as to put the construction on fast track instead of creating any further hindrances by way of imposing any sort of additional cost such as time extension charges.”

“We were supposed to get the possession of our units in 2012 but even after a decade, there is no solution. Now, the time extension charges will compound our woes. There should be a law that mandates that the realtors do not pass such charges on us, the homebuyers,” said Gupta.