During the regime of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh governments, people of some colonies patrolled at night to counter the onslaught during communal clashes in Hyderabad. All the youth used to stay awake all night in the slums and colonies, with lathis and sticks as well as repel the attackers together. While not many might have witnessed those days, the time has come for people of Hyderabad to start vigilance in their areas. But, this time instead of the attackers, they should be vigilant towards fraudulent builders promising UDS/pre launch sales.
It is a well known fact that the majority of builders and developers in many parts of Telangana including Hyderabad are taking up new projects – flats, villas and plots, in strict adherence to existing norms. They are obtaining all approvals from the municipal and also RERA authorities, before starting their projects. But these days, a new breed of realtors are emerging overnight and taking up projects without obtaining proper permissions. One can observe that most of these new builders and investors are coming from Andhra Pradesh and have raised the curtains for these illegal activities. All of them are charging 100 per cent money in advance, misleading the buyers that the rate is lower than the market price and promising to complete the project without failure. However, there are a number of apartments where the buyers paid full amount three years ago and yet, are awaiting for completion of these projects. They are all caught between the Devil and the Deep Sea. They can neither sit silent nor come forward to lodge any complaint with the police or other authorities, fearing that they would not never get their investment back. Many realtors and builders including some experienced builders have already collected hundreds of crores of rupees from such buyers.
Time to restrict
The Telangana RERA Authority has not been as successful as expected in curbing UDS and pre-launch sales. Therefore, builders and developers in every area should come forward to curb such irregularities. Their sales have already dropped significantly due to the activities of these fraudulent builders and if this continues, the sales are likely to decrease in the future. Therefore, if builders are selling plots or flats through UDS and pre-launch schemes in any area, they should be stopped immediately. This would be possible only when the builders who strictly follow the RERA regulations, join hands and create awareness among the public about the respective ventures and apartments which are being built against the established norms. Only if builders and developers in every area or city act unitedly against UDS or pre-launch sales, the menace can be uprooted completely and no one will dare to take up such sales in future.
