|
YET another controversy dogs Maytas group, the sister- concern of scam- hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd. This time, it is facing allegations of cheating hundreds of customers who paid huge amounts to own bungalows, villas and apartments in its prestigious Hill County Residential Housing Complex. The project was taken up by Maytas Properties Ltd ( MPL), one of the entities of Maytas Infra, which has taken up several irrigation, roads and other infrastructure projects, besides the controversial Hyderabad Metro Rail Project. Maytas Properties had taken up the mega housing project Hill County on 300 acres of land near Bachupalli on the outskirts of Hyderabad, promising to construct 326 independent bungalows and villas, besides 800 apartments. The total cost of the project, when it began in January 2006, was estimated at around Rs 1,000 crore. The company had collected nearly Rs 500 crore from customers at the time of booking. The buyers were made to pay much higher prices than the prevailing market rates of comparable properties. “ Some of us paid the entire cost of the house, ranging from Rs 65 lakh for a threebed room apartment of about 2,000 sq ft carpet area to Rs 1.5 crore for a villa, after the company offered us a discount of five per cent for an outright payment. We were promised that the houses would be delivered with all facilities, but none of the promises were fulfilled,” lamented B. V. Ramaraju, an Air India officer who owns an apartment in Maytas Hill County. According to Ramaraju, the promoters had spent only Rs 300 crore and diverted the rest of the money to other projects. All the units were promised to be delivered by March 2008, but the deadline was extended twice. Out of the independent bungalows, hardly half a dozen have been completed while the apartments have only roofing in some towers and some do not have even the structure. “ The MPL management has been giving false assurances about resuming the work,” said another investor K. Anil Kumar. The project has come to a grinding halt since the Satyam scandal broke out. “ According to current estimates, the promoters require only Rs 180 crore to complete the work. However, the company has no money to take it up. They are asking us to pay more money to complete the project, which would be treated as loan for which they promised to give us a credit note. But, how can anybody rely on a company, which has defaulted on completing the project?” Raju said. The colony doesnt even have basic amenities such as roads, drainage connections and drinking water supply. The customers, who have formed themselves into an association, on Sunday demanded that the government prevail upon Maytas Properties to complete the project at the earliest, or hand over the project to some other developer. Maytas officials were not available for comment. |