After novel protest, Unitech home buyers mull legal action over delay

Tired of the delay in getting delivery of their apartments, buyers of Unitech’s ‘The Residences’ project in Gurgaon are now planning to move court and approach the Competition Commission of India.

“We are exploring the option of moving the High Court and approaching the CCI, apart from writing letters to the Prime Minister, the promoters of Unitech and agencies such as SEBI for intervention and investigation in the matter,” Vikram Bishnoi, President of the Unitech Residences Apartment Buyers’ Association, told BusinessLine ,

On Sunday, the members of the association resorted to a unique protest, by working as labourers at the project site. This is not the first time Unitech has courted controversy. Last year, buyers of the Uniworld Garden II project in Sohna Road had come out on the streets protesting delays.

According to Vivek Pachuri, Treasurer of the Association, Unitech has already earned ₹120 crore by way of interest on the amount collected from the buyers. Each buyer has paid around ₹50 lakh to Unitech for The Residences project, which was launched in 2009.

“The company has said that the problem is due to labour shortage. It said that there were 350 labourers at the project and that it would soon raise the count to 600, but when we counted the number of labourers, it was only 38,” said Bishnoi, adding that “Unitech subsequently said that it has 100 labourers at the site. How are 100 people expected to complete a 1,300-flat project?”

In a communication to BusinessLine , a Unitech spokesperson said: “We are trying to further speed up the delivery of units. The process of handing over 224 units to buyers is already on. Buyers have also been communicated the schedule for handing over the remaining units. We are also paying a penalty to the buyers, as per the agreement, for any delay in handing over their units.”

Bishnoi, however, says that these 224 flats have been ready for the past year, but have no electricity, water or sewerage connections. Delivery timelines for the remaining towers have been pushed ahead over the past three years. Besides, a penalty has been provided for only on paper (at ₹5 per sq ft).

Unitech’s shares ended 1.28 per cent lower, at ₹26.90, on the BSE on Monday.