Homebuyers say that they have waited far too long and want their homes to be registered at the earliest
A week after the Supreme Court reinstated the interim resolution professional to manage the affairs of embattled firm Jaypee Infratech, the process of registering the housing units has restarted and would be ramped up in the next two to three weeks, IRP Anuj Jain told Moneycontrol.
“No new letters have been issued to homebuyers in the last one week. We had issued more than 8,000 letters of possession before March 2020 of which around 3,000 units were not registered. We have now restarted the registration process tower wise. The registration offices were shut for the last two months on account of COVID-19,” he said.
The registration process has now recommenced post the pandemic and “it will take another two three weeks to become fully functional.”
Customers can get in touch with the customer care department and they will take it up but “no new additional communication has been made,” he added.
But are Wishtown units that would be registered completed in every respect?
As per the process, the buyer first intimates the company that he is interested in taking over the unit. The customer then has to clear all his dues and finally register the unit with the authority.
“The final finishing work takes place in two phases – registration and then handover. Typically, the real estate company receives the remaining 5 to 10 percent of the amount before registration of units and in case of Jaypee most buyers have already paid 95 percent. Before registering their units, buyers would have to clear all their dues,” he said.
A well-defined process has to been followed for registering the Wishtown units “Appointments have to be booked through the online portal. Allottees have to follow certain precautions on account of COVID-19 such as wearing marks and carrying their sanitisers,” he said.
Some homebuyers have started receiving calls from the Jaypee registration cell informing them of probable dates of registration.
“This is welcome news,” said Krishan Mitroo, a Wish Town buyer, adding. “It would ensure that at least completed homes are registered soon.”
A homebuyer Moneycontrol spoke to said he has paid up the entire amount to the company and has an appointment fixed for registering his unit on August 24. “I would want to get my unit registered as soon as possible because if I don’t I will have to continue paying both EMI and rent. I have waited far too long. While I received my letter of possession in March, I could not complete the registration work because the bank work took almost two months and then the lockdown was announced,” he said.
He has been informed that he would receive the completed unit only after 60 days of registering his unit. “There is still a lot of work to be completed – the kitchen work, flooring, windows and doors are still incomplete. Work on common areas is also pending,” he says.
He points out that the builder has charged him an interest amount of Rs 50,000 as penalty due to delay in interest repayment despite his inability to visit the developer’s office on account of the pandemic.
“The builder has charged me Rs 50,000 as a penalty for delaying payment. He has also increased the price of the unit from Rs 31 lakh to Rs 37 lakh,” he says.
Other homebuyers fear that if even they get their units registered, there is no guarantee that it would be completed in all respects.
“While the tower is structurally ready, the entire infrastructure is not in place especially the lifts and the parking area. A lot of work is still pending. How can we be sure that it would be completed after we get our units registered,” said another buyer.
The Supreme Court on August 6 transferred to itself the appeals pending before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the NBCC plan to acquire debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech and construct over 20,000 pending flats.
The top court said all the appeals before NCLAT and the apex court will be heard together to avoid further delay in the execution of the scheme.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheswari said that in the meantime, the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) would continue to manage the affairs of the company.
On April 22, the NCLAT had asked NBCC to implement its proposal to acquire debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech and complete over 20,000 pending flats but said that its direction was subject to its final order.
The NCLAT's direction had come over a plea moved by the NBCC, which won the bid to acquire Jaypee Infratech.
The NBCC's resolution plan has already been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), but appeals were filed against the order by the Jaypee Group as well as the NBCC.
The appellate tribunal had also directed Jaypee Infratech's IRP Anuj Jain to constitute an interim monitoring committee, comprising representatives of the NBCC and its three main lenders IDBI Bank, IIFCL and LIC.
The NBCC has challenged the modifications made by the NCLT in the original resolution plan submitted by it and as approved by the committee of creditors (CoC) of Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL).
While approving the resolution plan of NBCC, the NCLT had allowed objections of ICICI Bank and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority and directed payment to unclaimed Fixed Deposit Holders.
On March 3, NCLT had approved NBCC's bid to acquire JIL through an insolvency process and complete over 20,000 pending flats over the next three and half years.