3C builders added 36 flats in Noida project, buyers had no clue

Police claimed to have found that the 3C Lotus 300 project in Noida Sector 107 was sanctioned for 300 apartments to be constructed in six towers but the builders, Hacienda Projects - whose directors Nirmal Singh, Surpreet Singh and Vidur Bhardwaj have been arrested - had managed to increase it to 336 apartments by getting their plan modified by the Noida authorities without informing the buyers. The FIR mentions that the changes in this plan allowed them to construct a seventh tower and keep both clubbing and commercial activities in one integrated building. "We had received complaints from 50 homebuyers who had paid about Rs 100 crore to the company. Our probe revealed that the company had duped 328 buyers who had paid them Rs 626 crore for the project, out of which Rs 191 crore was diverted through subsidiaries," said Chaudhary. In the FIR, the buyers also alleged that they had been assured that the apartments would be spread across an area of 10 acres with huge spaces between two apartments. They said that in the agreement with them, the builders had asked them to pay 95% of the total value of each apartment along with tax. The complainants were made to sign the standard printed agreements authored by the accused which contained unilateral terms and conditions. "Under the agreement, the accused charged an interest of 18% per annum on account of delay on the part of the complainant but seek to pay only Rs 5 per sq feet per month in case of a period of delay for one to three months, Rs 7.50 per sq feet for a delay of 4-6 months and Rs 10 per sq feet for a delay for more than seven months," said the complaint. The three have been sent to three days in police the custody. The police are trying to trace the owners of the subsidiary companies where the rest of the money was transferred.