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Awaiting flats since 2011, aggrieved Hubtown Greenwoods customers to protest today

The project has six wings with 30 floors each. Those who booked flats in wings B and C say they have not heard anything concrete from the builder.

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Over 100 people have booked flats in Hubtown Greenwoods at Vartaknagar—For representation purpose only
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Aggrieved flat buyers of Hubtown Greenwoods by Akruti builders have organised a peace march on Tuesday. Their grouse is that the builder has failed to give possession of their flats for over five years even as he continues to launch new projects in the city.

On May 17, over 100 people who booked flats in Hubtown Greenwoods at Vartaknagar will stage a protest march to the Thane collector's office. "The builder had promised to give us our flats in November 2011; it is May 2016. We have already made 60-90% payment. How much longer should we wait?" asked Nafisa Barodawala, a chartered accountant from Thane, who had booked a 1.5 BHK with Hubtown (then Akruti city) in 2009.

The project has six wings with 30 floors each. Those who booked flats in wings B and C say they have not heard anything concrete from the builder. "The builder, Vimal Shah, claims that he is trying to get finance to finish our project. We have already made 90% of the payment. Where has our money gone?" said Anuradha Kadam, an engineer from Kharghar, who had booked a 1 BHK in 2009.

The people said what confuses them is that on the one hand the builder says he does not have money and on the other he is busy launching luxury premium projects. "We learnt that he has launched a premium project in Chembur. He has also been going around buying land in Thane for his projects. When he has no money to complete our project, how come he is buying land and launching new ones?" one of them questioned.

They also alleged that the builder even told them to cancel their deed and that he would pay them the principal amount at 12.5% interest. "He says the cost on our flats has escalated. But it's not our fault that the project was delayed. If he is ready to buy back the flat from us rather than just paying the interest on the principal amount, then we can think about it," one flat buyer said.

They also said the builder later told them that the project was linked to completion of other MMRDA rental housing projects. Barodawal said, "He says that till he completes MMRDA's projects, he won't get completion certificate for our buildings. This was not told to us earlier."

When contacted, vice president of Hubtown Limited Keval Valambhia said they are in the process of doing the needful. "Fit out possession was to begin from March and April 2016, and Hubtown has already started giving fit outs for three floors of wings B and C as per the commitment given to the customers," he added.

Valambhia also said that for most of the customers the possession date was around 2014. "All the approvals required to complete the construction, excluding OCC, were only received by October 2015. Work has progressed as per the approvals received in phases," he explained.

He also said that the customers were aware of the MMRDA rental housing linkage. "The linkage of the rental housing scheme is in the sales agreement signed by the customers and Hubtown Limited."

He refuted the allegations that the company said it does not have the finances to complete the project and is non-committal about the possession date. "The Hubtown Limited management is raising funds to complete the project from its own sources as of now. We are committed not to pass on any increased cost to customers, in spite of the provision of reimbursement of escalation in costs in agreement, and deliver the homes at the agreement value itself," he clarified.

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