personal finance

Unable to pay outstanding dues as banks have stopped lending: Amrapali buyers


NEW DELHI: The three months’ time period to deposit the outstanding dues by Amrapali buyers ended last month. However, a large number of buyers have not yet deposited their dues in the escrow account created at the instruction of the Supreme Court.

Buyers are unable to get the remaining amount of their home loans disbursed as banks have stopped lending to Amrapali projects. As per buyers, they will not be able to deposit the pending amount from their pockets as there is no certainty on how the projects will get completed.

“I booked my flat in 2010 and have already paid around 70% of the total amount. I won’t be able to deposit the remaining 30% as I don’t have any clarity on how the construction of the stalled projects will start. Not all buyers have money to pay from their pockets and banks are not disbursing to us. So, how are we going to pay?” asks Kuldeep Munshi, a homebuyer in the Amrapali Dream Valley project.

However, the Supreme Court has clearly stated that buyers must deposit the outstanding dues if they want their homes.

“Initially, the Supreme Court instructed buyers to deposit the dues in three months from the date of judgement, but this time period was subsequently relaxed. Now, there is no deadline or last date to deposit the outstanding dues. Buyers can deposit as and when they have the money. However, buyers will have to deposit the pending money if they want their homes to be completed. Supreme Court is monitoring the status and will ensure that the projects get completed,” says Kumar Mihir, advocate, Supreme Court.

The next hearing is on December 2, 2019 where the Supreme Court has sought proposals from banks on how they are going to disburse loans to Amrapali buyers.

“On 2nd Dec, the apex court may direct banks to disburse loans. More than 40 banks have disbursed loans to around 42,000 Amrapali homebuyers. Nearly Rs 8,300 crore is needed to complete the Amrapali projects as per the state-run National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC). Attached properties can bring around Rs 4,500 crore so there is a big funding gap which can be recovered by selling attached properties of the Amrapali Group or by other methods by NBCC. We are hopeful that once buyers deposit the money and the attached properties are sold, work on stalled projects will be able to start,” further explains Mihir.

On Wednesday, the government announced the creation of an Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) with a targeted corpus of Rs 25,000 crore for the completion of various stalled housing projects. The government will invest Rs 10,000 crore in the fund and institutions like SBI and LIC will contribute the rest to take the corpus to Rs 25,000 crore.

This funding will address the concerns of lakhs of homebuyers who have paid an initial amount to builders but are still waiting for the completion of their projects. It also aims to finish such housing units in a time-bound manner.

Approximately 42,000 flats are stalled in various projects launched by the Amrapali Group. Buyers invested their life savings and most of them had obtained loan from banks. Most of the buyers have made 50 – 100 per cent payment, abiding by the payment schedule.

Several revised dates of possession were fixed, but the developer failed to deliver within the timelines. The Amrapali Group has failed to comply with its obligations under the subvention scheme, the tenure of which was approved by the bank/financial institution.

Another homebuyer Dipankar Kumar says, “We respect the decision of the Supreme Court but we do not have money to pay and are waiting for banks to start disbursing to us. Even if one tower is complete and delivered, buyers cannot start living till the basic amenities are in place.”

Buyers want the construction to start as only then will they have the confidence to pay the remaining amount.





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