The Maharashtra government has announced an auction of a land parcel in the Mulund area of Mumbai owned by Mumbai-based Nirmal Developers due to several recovery warrants issued by the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) for allegedly delayed possession to homebuyers.
The auction of 2,634 square metres of land at a base price of Rs 31.81 crore would be held by the tahsildar office in Mumbai at 11 am on January 18, 2023.
Interested parties will be taken for site visits between January 1 and January 17, according to the auction notice issued by the tehsildar office in Mumbai.
According to the auction notice, those holding Indian citizenship will be able to participate in the auction.
Also read: Seventeen years after launch, buyers await possession of apartments in Mumbai's Mulund
Sandeep Thorat, tahsildar, Mulund-Kurla zone in Mumbai, told Moneycontrol, "The land will be auctioned at a base price of around Rs 31 crore measuring around 2,600 square metres. The land has structures on it, however, we will not move the structures. The land will be auctioned on 'as is where is' basis and the new owner can decide the future of the land as well as the structures on it. However, I cannot off-hand give the total quantum and number of recovery warrants issued by MahaRERA for which the particular land is being auctioned."
Nirmal Developers is a prominent real estate developer from the Mulund area in Mumbai. However, the firm is in trouble owing to financial constraints. The firm has several projects around Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) where possession to homebuyers is allegedly delayed.
In the past, hearings have also been undertaken at the National Company Law Tribunal after lenders have approached the tribunal alleging unpaid dues running in hundreds of crores of rupees. Several homebuyers in MMR also have hearings going on in MahaRERA for allegedly delayed possession.
In a statement, Nirmal Developers said, "We are committed to settle all the customers. We have received the auction notice for the execution of recovery warrants towards the complaint filed by the 84 complainants for the total amount due as per the order valued at Rs 28.39 crore. We would like to state that, of the total of 84 complainants, 34 complainants have already been paid the full and final amount as per their settlement terms and they have withdrawn their complaints accordingly."
The statement added, "Further 18 complainants have also executed the settlement agreement and till date we have made part payments to them as per their settlement terms. So far, we have already settled 52 customers out of the total 84 complainants of their collective claim of Rs 17.47 crore. Hence, we would like to state that we have already settled more than 60 percent of the customers and we are in talks with the balance complainants for their settlement. This information has been conveyed to the learned District Collector's office as well.”
Homebuyers wait
Pankaj Thadani, 35, booked a two-BHK apartment in 2011 in Nirmal Zircon for Rs 58 lakh. "I was promised a possession date of December 2015 during the registration. We are in 2023 today and still have not received possession of our flat. I filed my complaint with MahaRERA in 2018 and an initial order was passed in May 2019 to provide me monetary compensation followed by a non-compliance order in February 2020 and the last chance to the developer in June 2022."
Thadani added, "However, after giving three chances and a battle of 4.5 years, I have not got any compensation. The warrant is for an amount of Rs 26.81 lakh, which would keep on accumulating further interest at the rate of 10.65 percent until lawful possession of the said flat is provided.
The developer has been misleading the court for the last 3 years by stating that the possession would be handed over in 2-3 months. For now, we are hoping that tahsildar is able to complete the auction and recover the compensation as per the MahaRERA orders. If the auction is successfully completed it would just be a stepping stone as there is still a battle ahead for the actual possession of the flat."
Also read: MC Exclusive | Over 50% projects tagged ‘ongoing’ since MahaRERA, still await completion
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