[Resolved]  NDTV — Complain against LODHA GROUP Mumbai

Address:

Mumbai City, Maharashtra

Dear Sir/ Madam Greetings of the day... FACTS OF THE CASE On 9th February 2014, I had booked a 2 BHK unit in esteemedproject of LODHA GROUP named "Lakeshore Greens" located in Palava, Dombivali. The detail of the booking is as under: Cluster/ Wing - Casa Cielo A Flat No. - A1402 The total cost of the flat has been frozen at Rs 55, 62, 756plus other charges. At the time of booking although I had signed the ApplicationForm, I had also requested the draft Agreement to Sale to understand thedetailed terms of the transaction as also the lease deed between Lodha DwellersP Ltd (ultimate owner of the land) and Lodha Hi-rise Builders P Ltd (theCompany having the development rights and with which we are dealing with). Wewere assured that the draft AGreemet as also the detailed terms of the leasebetween Lodha Dwellers and Lodha Hi-rise shall be shared immediately after thebooking and in any case before the Application Money -2 becomes due, i.e. on01.03.2014. We had provided the cheques to Lodha Group with the said assurance. I primarily wanted the clarification on the following termswhich didn't had any mention in the Application Form but eventually had to havea mention in the Agreement to Sale: 1. Major Termsof lease between Lodha Dwellers Pvt Ltd & Lodha Hi-Rise Builders Pvt Ltd. 2. As FlatOwners, will we have to bear 50% of the Market Value of the property at thetime of Re- development/ Renewal of the Lease. 3. Will the Flatbe Freely Transferable after Possession without any NOC required from M/s LodhaDwellers Pvt Ltd. If yes, what would be the Terms / Charges toget such NOC. 4. Will the Flatbe Freely Leaseable after Possession without any NOC required from M/s LodhaDwellers Pvt Ltd. If yes, what would be the Terms / Charges toget such NOC. However, after banking of Application Money-1, when Istarted enquiring with out relationship manager regarding the aboverequirements, we were neither given any document/information nor anysatisfactory answer. On repeated requests and after a detailed discussion on 28thFeb 2014 with my Relationship Manager Mr Saiprasad, I was categoricallyinformed by him that no more information shall be shared. I was also informedby him that if conditions of the agreement would not be acceptable to me, I cancancel the booking but in that case 10% of the property value shall be deductedas cancellation charges. This was something which I never expected from a reputedbuilder like 'LODHA". At the time of booking, I am not getting the termsof the booking and once the terms of the booking are known and those are notacceptable to me, I have to shell out 10% of the property value as cancllationcharges. On further investigation, I came to know that in oldapplication forms, there was a clause that for renewal of the lease, 50% of themarket value shall be required to be paid which although has been removed withthe new application forms but it is not clear whether the same would form partof the Agreement to Sale. Apart from the above Clause on lease renewal, the clarity isalso not being provided on whether NOC from LODHA would be required for furthersale/ lease of the unit after possession. If yes, on what conditions this NOCshall be given? We are being informed that all the details shall form partof the Agreement to Sale and draft of the Agreement of Sale is not beingprovided. Once Agreement of Sale draft will be provided and the conditionsmentioned therein are not acceptable, LODHA shall deduct 10% of the propertyvalue as cancellation charges. This is absolutely unethical, illegal andagainst the spirit of the Law of Contract. As I didn't want to enter into such an illogical, unethical& illegal deal, I have decided to cancel the booking and accordinglycommunicated the same to Lodha Group vide my email dated 1st March 2014 with arequest not to Bank the future cheques submitted to the LODHA Group. Accordignly, I requested LODHA GROUP to refund myApplication Money -1 of Rs 45, 000 without any further delay failing which Ishall be constrained to approach appropriate judicial/quasi-judicialproceedings to recover my hard earned money alongwith interest/ penalty and thecosts towards legal process and harrassment. The above practices followed by LODHA group are abusive ofits dominant position since these impose highly arbitrary, unfair andunreasonable conditions for booking of flats. The terms of the booking werealso heavily loaded in favour of LODHA. Subsequent to the above email, I received an email from ShriRitesh Ghai, DGM (Customer Care) as appended below. Request you to help me in getting justice and getting myhard earned money refunded from LODHA GROUP. "DearMr. Singh Greetingsfrom Lodha Group!! We refer to your email below wherein you have expressed yourconcern towards sharing of documents towards the application for allotment offlat at Lake Shore Greens. We confirmthat as a policy we share the documents only post allotment of flat. Moreoveras per terms and conditions of the application form any withdrawal ofapplication has a forfeiture of the booking amount. You have signed theapplication form and the forfeiture is valid and as per agreed terms andconditions of application. We regret we will not be able to offer refund ofbooking amount as per your request below. WarmRegards Ritesh Ghai |Deputy General Manager | Customer Care LodhaExcelus, Apollo Mills Compound, N M Joshi Marg, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai 400011 t +91.22.67737366 ● fax: +[protected] ● www.lodhagroup.com" I am a poor law abiding citizen of your state having fullfaith in the judicial, administration and governance system of the state andconfident from my side to get the justice from your good office and to curtailsuch unfair trade practices by builders in general and LODHA Group inparticular. I don’t know did I dream wrong to own a house in Mumbai andgot stucked in the marketing gimmicked net of LODHA Group whose ulterior motiveis not to provide the affordable houses to poor but to drag the money from poorinnocent customers through such illegal and unfair trade practices. Also request you to appoint a panel to check their policiesand practices, evaluate the equality, reasonableness and genuineness on theirapplication forms and agreement to saleand also to assess how many people have cancelled the bookings in theirprojects and how much money have been forfeited by these burglars from the poorresidents of the country. The collection of money towards parking charges mayalso be evaluated in spite of the clear guidelines of the state on provision offree parking space.