Homebuyer Manish Singhal booked an apartment in a Supertech Limited project in 2012, hoping the unit will be delivered by 2016. The superstructure was ready by 2017, but there has been no construction on the ground since. He has paid more than Rs 60 lakh. Last year, he filed a case against the company with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)

Does he see a ray of hope now that Supertech has gone into insolvency after the Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on March 25 admitted a petition filed by Union Bank of India for non-payment of dues worth Rs 431 crore? Tidak juga.

“Of the more than Rs 60 lakh that I have paid the builder till now and Rs 30 lakh that I have spent servicing my home loan, I can at best look forward to one-third of the amount through the insolvency process. However, if the IRP gets these units completed by a third-party developer, I may still have some hope of finally getting a home as the super structure is already 60% ready,” Singhal told Moneycontrol. IRP is short for Insolvency Resolution Professional.

Another buyer is not sure if the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Supertech is good or bad. “I have been waiting for delivery of my unit for almost 10 years, two years with RERA and am not sure how long will the wait be in NCLT. I am only concerned with one thing – I should get a roof above my head,” this buyer said.

There are hundreds of buyers who had cases pending against Supertech. Buyers are not sure about the next course of action..

Under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, once a company is admitted into the resolution process, a moratorium on all pending civil, consumer, RERA cases takes effect until the process’s completon.

Legal experts say that if homebuyers want, they can file claims with the IRP appointed by the NCLT in the matter. “For now all buyers should file their claim forms before the IRP. Once that exercise is done, they should raise their concerns in the committee of creditors (COC) and with the IRP as well. It is imperative that the homebuyers should act together towards completion of the projects,” said Aditya Parolia, a lawyer who has taken up several cases on behalf of Supertech homebuyers.

Homebuyers should file a copy of the RERA order while submitting their claim with the IRP

“The most important thing the homebuyers should do is file is the order issued by RERA or any other court if it has been finally decided along with the calculation sheet. The documents that they need to file are the CA form, copy of the Provisional Allotment Letter/ Allotment Letter if any; Copy of the Builder-Buyer Agreement executed if any; Statement of Account or all the receipts of the payments as provided by the builder; Copy of applications PAN card(s); Bank Account Details in which you want money to be transferred; Any order from court received,” advises Anshul Gupta of ANG Partners, Advocates and Solicitors.

How do the numbers stack up?

At the Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UPRERA), as many as 27 cases have been registered against Supertech. These translate to 2,538 complaints of which 1,790 have been decided by the Authority. UPRERA has issued 133 orders of refund;1,347 cases pertain to possession of flats. In some cases, because possession was not possible, the order was converted to one for a refund, officials at the Authority told Moneycontrol.

“So far we have issued 260 recovery certificates,” said Abrar Ahmed, principal adviser at UPRERA, adding that Supertech had complied with 94, or 36% of them.

“The worth of the recovery certificates was Rs 108 crore of which Rs 36 crore has been settled with the builder,” he said.

Recovery certificates are orders issued by RERA asking builders to clear the dues of buyers in case of failure to deliver projects within the stipulated deadline.

Homebuyers in Eco Village Phase 2 filed 136 complaints, of which 80 have been decided so far, UPRERA officials said.

Refund orders have been issued in two cases and ownership orders in 59 cases. These most have completed units and buyers who want ownership submit cases to ensure that the rest of the work on them is accelerated.

The maximum number of complaints submitted so far against builders is the buyer at Eco Village Phase 3. A total of 1,249 complaints have been submitted. From where 911 was decided with a problem 64 orders for refund and 674 ownership orders. Most towers in the project are approaching completion and buyers wanting ownership.

“This promoter does not obey the rera command at first. During the pandemic, the adherence of all promoters is on the bottom side but after the rera pandemic increases pressure and compliance has begun to improve,” Ahmed said.

“At the last meeting with the board of directors of this company on March 15, the company was told in uncertain requirements that they had to obey the orders and they had shared the compliance plan with the Rera. But Rera is not satisfied with the compliance plan given by the company (i.e.) giving time Two weeks to provide a revised settlement plan … based on which Rera will monitor adherence to the command and project progress. “

“Posting the order of bankruptcy last week, the moratorium has been implemented which means no complainants, no allottee can approach any forum – judicials, quasi-judicial or authority – for every assistance and even the implementation of existing orders, decrees remain suspended.. Buyers Opposing orders orders have been excluded must attach a copy of the retainer’s order and send their claims with IRP. That is the course of assistance available for buyers of this house now. They cannot approach other forums, “he explained.

Supertech was in the news when on August 31, 2021, the Supreme Court had ordered the demolition of the twin towers under the construction of 40 floors located in Noida for violating the norms of building “Collusion Noida”.

The APEX court has directed that the entire investment of 633 home buyers who have ordered flats in twin towers are returned with a 12 percent interest from the time of booking. Around 248 home buyers took the initial refund, while 133 took a flat in the SuperTech project other.

The court also directed Supertech to pay RWA (Resident’s Welfare Association) of the Emerald RS 2 Crore court project for harassment caused by the construction of twin towers, which would block sunshine and fresh air for the population of housing projects. . In February, the authority of Noida told the Supreme Court that the demolition of the tower would be completed by May. Work on demolition has begun.

In September 2021, the National Consumer Commission punished Supertech who managed the Dirctor Mohit Arora for three years in prison for failing to return home buyers after not submitting his home ownership in the Yamuna Expressway Industry Development Region (Yeida) for several years.

Publishing an arrest warrant against Arora, the Commission directed that his order came into effect after seven days if the builder failed to deposit around Rs 1.79 Crore, a report in Hindustan said.

Reports in Business Standards in 2014 said Supertech Chairman RK Arora at a time “small time broker” had gone to become one of the largest developers in North India with 75 million sq.ft. The report said Supertech “grew to the company with RS 1,874 Crore income in 2012-13 from RS 218 Crore in 2007-08, up behind the real estate boom.” The report said the company was founded in 1988 and was included in 1995 with a registered office located in Delhi.

The group has made a wave with a supernova project, billed as the highest tower in North India and the second highest in India and has projected itself as a pioneer in a luxury construction room. It was reported to be in the tie-up with people like Disney and Armani for the upscale luxury tower and even traced Bollywood actor Twinkle Khanna as a celebrity architect for one of its projects.