Indian Express 27.10.2010
Corporators want builders overcharging flat buyers blacklisted
Express News Service Tags : Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, builders, mumbai Posted: Wed Oct 27 2010, 05:23 hrs
Mumbai: Corporators from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation strongly opposed the trend of builders charging for the super built-up area instead of carpet area while selling flats. Following a long discussion in the BMC’s general body meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Shraddha Jadhav said that she will urgently summon a meeting with top officials of the civic body and then make a presentation to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on how the housing policy needs to be implemented strictly. Corporators from all parties unanimously criticised the BMC for letting builders get away with over-charging buyers for the super built up area. They came down heavily on officials from the Building Proposals department for not taking suitable action against builders selling their flats on super-built up. It is mandatory for builders to charge only for the carpet area and not super-built up area that includes area for the parapet, podium, staircase, elevator, garden etc while carpet area is the actual usable area which the user gets to use.“The policy was drafted to make affordable housing possible for Mumbaikars, however, people continue to be taken on ride by builders pricing them on super-built up area,” said Congress corporator Vinod Shekhar. “The civic administration has failed to ensure the implementation of the policy,” said Shiv Sena leader Sunil Prabhu. Corporators also asked for blacklisting builders who violated these norms.
BJP corporator Ashish Shelar said that a regulatory body should be formed within the BMC that will monitor upcoming building projects and ensure that the polcy is being implemented. “The commissioner is the initiator of the housing policy and therefore the BMC should play an important role in penalising errant builders,” said Shelar.
Buyers often do not know the actual area of the flat because the excess area charged for is not uniform. That means when the builder charges for a 1,000-sq-ft flat, the buyer ends up getting only 500 to 700 sq ft as carpet area.
