Noida Authority promises to protect Jaypee homebuyers’ interests

As hundreds of angry home buyers of Jaypee Wish Town staged a protest here, the Noida Authority today promised to protect the interests of the flat owners, saying a plan is being worked out in this regard. The home buyers gathered at the company office shouting slogans against the management and demanding refund of their investments since the National Company Law Tribunal has admitted the insolvency petition filed by IDBI Bank against the debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech. The protestors demanded that their money be returned first as they fear that if the company is declared insolvent, all their court cases will become ineffective and they will not be able to get possession of their flats and lose their hard-earned money. According to the SHO of Noida Expressway police station, over 400 people protested at the company’s office here and personnel from four to five police stations were deployed to control them. Jaypee Infratech is among 12 big corporate loan defaulters against whom RBI has ordered initiation of insolvency proceedings. The company had a debt of about ~8,000 crore till March 2017. The company, which is developing about 32,000 flats and plots across various projects in its township project ‘Wish Town’ here, has been facing protests and litigation from home buyers due to huge delays in completion of projects. Meanwhile, Noida Authority CEO Amit Mohan Prasad said, “Hard earned money of home buyers will not be allowed to go down the drain.” Asserting that strict action will be taken against the defaulting developers, he said the Noida Authority is working on rescheduling of the payment plan under which builders will be directed to deposit the dues within a specified period. The Authority will then take over the unsold apartments and property of the builders and auction it to recover the dues, Prasad said. He said the Authority has written to Uttar Pradesh government seeking approval to take over possession of unsold property of the defaulting builders and recovering dues from its sale. Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in New Delhi that the government cannot take any direct action in the matter. “It is a matter of concern. But, we cannot take direct action. Buyers have to approach consumer courts for justice,” he said. Jaypee Infratech has 2500 hectares of land in five parcels of around 500 hectares each. Now, the company is planning to sell some unused land to banks to reduce its debt.