Brigade Developers, a builder of apartment buildings, has paid P.M.Bhat and K.W.Bopaiah Rs. 1 lakh each to settle cases which they had filed against excessive fees collected from them.
The complainants had bought apartments constructed by Brigade Developers. Before handing over the apartments to them, Brigade Developers had collected from them large amounts for various services ( including more than Rs. 25,000 as electricity connection charge, more than Rs. 15,000 as water connection charge and Rs. 10,000 as Corporation Khatha assessment charge). The complainants later found out that the authorities did not charge anywhere close to the huge amounts collected by the builder. In fact, Mysore City Corporation did not charge anything for Khatha assessment. The complainants then wrote to the builder to render a true statement of accounts for the fees levied, but they received no reply. So they filed cases (OS Nos. 426/2002 and 47/2002) before the Court of Small Causes at Mysore claiming that in the absence of a true statement of accounts, they should get back the amounts they had paid as various fees. The case was referred to Lok Adalat in which the case was settled for Rs. 1 lakh each to the complainants (4-8-2010). The court fees paid by the complainants were also returned to them.
MGP has received complaints from apartment buyers that many apartment builders are charging exorbitant fees for services such as the ones mentioned above. They should ask for a statement of accounts and if the statement is found unsatisfactory, proceed to file a case for the recovery of the excess amount paid. MGP has also brought the case of excessive Khatha assessment fee to the notice of Mysore City Corporation and asked it to publish an advertisement in the public interest to give the correct picture on various fees it charges to builders.
B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat