Thousands of residents living in high-rise apartments across Delhi and NCR have claimed they are being fleeced by realtors and caretakers of societies in the name of maintenance cost.
“Earlier, I was paying a rent of Rs 7,000 in Delhi but after investing my life’s savings here, I am paying Rs 4,000 as maintenance charges, including fixed meter, diesel generator and inflated bill for electricity usage every month. As I have to pay a whopping Rs 22,000 per month as EMI for my flat, I am left with nothing. And I was better off in my rented accommodation,” said Ekansh Desaur, a resident of Stellar One society in Noida Extension.
Hardship faced by Ekansh is just the tip of the iceberg as residents of almost all the skyscrapers have similar problems to narrate.
The Pioneer visited many of the societies to speak with residents to know their agonies. The daily has learned that a large number of residents are suffering in silence, bearing the harassment mooted to them by builders.
“The main compulsion is that even after buying flats in these societies, residents have to run from pillar to post to get everything done,” said Ekansh.
Another resident of the Amrapali Princely Estate, Noida Sector 76, Keshav Dudani, said, “Maintenance of three bedroom-hall flat is around Rs 2,100 per month but if you fail to pay this on the due date, the maintenance department starts knocking on your doors, pestering you with calls and might even threaten you. They say they will cut the electricity of your flat. They even charge late fee on per day basis. This is sheer harassment and should be stopped.”
He said service of the society is very bad. “If there is any problem of water or electricity in the flat, we have to call the maintenance department again and again, but they show up according to their convenience.
Sometimes we have to manage our time according to the maintenance department as they tell us we can only visit at this time or your work will be done afterwards,” he said.
A resident of Gardenia Glory, Noida sector 46, who did not wish to be named, said they live in a three bedroom-hall flat and their maintenance amount of the flat is Rs 4,100 per month. The facilities provided by the society are disgrace, as guards of the society are old and lazy. And according to the need of residents, there is shortage in housekeeping staff. If we call the maintenance department for any work like plumbing, etc, they make us wait for hours, sometimes for days and after that they try to make extra money by lying about the work and telling that this thing is not working, I will get you a new one it will cost this much extra which you have to pay.
“Stray dogs have made our life miserable in society. One cannot walk freely as the stray dogs have bitten many kids and adults in the society while they were just walking in the evening. No guard or maintenance staff does anything about the problem after so many complaints from the residents. The builders are acting like mafias,” she said.
Yogendra Singh Rathore, a resident of Gaur Sportswood, Noida Sector 79, said, “I shifted from Delhi to Noida hoping to live in a peaceful environment but after purchasing the flat, we have to pay maintenance of around Rs 6,100 per month. It feels like ‘Apne hi ghar mei rent par reh rahe hai’. There are around 800-900 flats in the society and the minimum maintenance charge is Rs 6,100. There is no transparency in spending these funds for development or providing basic amenities.”
Talking about suffering after taking possession in Supertech Eco Village 2, Noida Extension, Suresh Kumar said he is still struggling to get basic facilities done in the apartment.
“I have requested the builder many times to fix the seepage problem in the flat but even after several reminders, things remain unchanged. We cannot even use the washroom as water spilled in the bedroom attached to it due to the wrong slope. They (builders) have attached maintenance charges with prepaid electric meters to force residents to pay the charges. The authorities need to intervene to lift us from such a pathetic condition,” he said.