The ugly side of quick money in real estate was exposed on Tuesday when numerous customers gathered to express their anger at being cheated by ‘dubious’ developers. The State government assured a CID probe into one of the cases.
Taking to social media, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted: ‘I am concerned over 2,000 people are affected by Dreamz Infra Co case. All accused were arrested. Case being given to CID for further action’.
The protesters were allegedly ‘duped’ of plots in three projects in H.S.R. Layout. The number of customers ‘cheated’ by three companies is as high as 7,000. The protesters have submitted a petition to the Home Minister.
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Among them was Sharmila B.K. In 2015, she paid an advance of ₹18.5 lakh for an apartment offered by one of the real estate companies. The contract had promised that permissions would be obtained by January 2016 and construction would begin within three months. “Now, the land is not even in the name of the construction company. The land-owner has put a notice saying he has no connection with the builder. We were threatened when we demanded return of our money,” she alleged.
Kamalesha A.S., a software engineer, invested over ₹11.5 lakh in plots. Of this money, ₹8 lakh came from his mother-in-law. “We were promised three plots. My mother-in-law used her retirement money to buy two plots for her daughters. There has been no sign of progress on our plots and we have no hope of getting it. We just want our money back,” he said.
Others complained of being pushed around when they demanded their money back, or given invalid cheques.
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‘RERA would have prevented this’
If Karnataka had acted in haste in setting up regulatory bodies as specified under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, cases like these could have been prevented, say activists pushing for the implementation of the bill in the State.
M.S. Shankar, convenor of the Karnataka chapter of Fight for RERA, said one of the most important provisions of the Act is to prohibit ‘pre-launch’ projects. “This prevents builders from seeking money for a project that does not have the necessary approvals,” he explained.
Notifying RERA rules would ensure the setting up of appellate authorities that will have to dispose complaints in a time-bound manner. “The authority is expected to dispose the complaint within 60 days,” he said.
However, Karnataka has dragged its feet on RERA and has even come under criticism from senior Congress leader Ajay Maken for its attempts to dilute the Act.