Many allottees of GMADA scheme seek to opt out,demand refund

But it is this stringent clause which has made many successful applicants apprehensive,leading them to opt out of the scheme. It is learnt that about 300 applicants have already demanded refund of their money and GMADA is receiving more applications of this kind daily.

GMADA officials say that most of the allottees demanding the refund of their money are from Haryana.

“At the time of applying for the scheme,they were not aware that they would not be able to sell or transfer the ownership of the flat for five years. Hence,they submitted multiple applications and now want a refund,” informed a senior GMADA official.

The scheme opened on December 12 and was initially scheduled to close on January 12. Due to the low response,it was later extended to January 21. GMADA had initially invited applications for only 4,500 flats since it was contemplating that the rest of the flats would be auctioned. Due to the five-year lock-in period,the Authority did not get a large number of applicants.

Hence,the rest of the flats were added to the general pool. With a total of about about 6,500 applicants for 6,300 flats,allotment was assured for 97 per cent applicants. Over-supply is also stated to be a reason for the low demand for these flats.

“Investors and end-users had already put money into Aero City,Eco City and other schemes. Secondly,there are apprehensions among investors that if GMADA outsources the construction but the government does not pay the contractors on time,work may get stalled,” said Guranchal Sethi,a property dealer based in Sector 35.

The Purab Premium Apartments scheme offered 900 two-bedroom flats priced at Rs 37 lakh,1,800 three-bedroom flats at Rs 55 lakh and 1,800 four-bedroom flats at Rs 69 lakh. In addition to the multi-storey towers for flats,GMADA had planned that Sector 88 would also provide for upmarket sports infrastructure,commercial and entertainment space.