FIRS against builders cheating buyers in name of land pooling

NEWDELHI: The Delhi Police on Friday registered 13 FIRS and set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe builders who allegedly duped people with the promise of flats in Dwarka and neighbouring areas under the Delhi Development Agency’s (DDA’S) land pooling policy.

Police did not divulge the names of the builders, but said they may have already cheated thousands of people on the pretext of selling them affordable homes in the city where property rates are already very high.

OP Mishra, joint commissioner of police (Economic Offences Wing (EOW), said the cases were registered after scrutinising multiple websites.

“These builders, promoters and societies have been using websites, bulk text messages and pamphlets to reach out to buyers. They would make them cough up money on the pretext of advance booking for flats,” said Mishra.

The DDA had approved the policy last February with the aim of ensuring sufficient homes in the city. Some builders used the anticipation of potential homebuyers to start various “fake schemes” to rake in easy money, said the officer.

While the scale of the “fraud” is yet to be determined, Mishra said they fear that thousands of home buyers may have been duped. The police said it is too early to give an estimate of the amount each of the victims were duped of, but a similar FIR was registered last week on the complaint of some victims. “One of the victims had revealed that he was promised a flat for 1,760 square feet flat for ₹51 lakh and he paid over ₹20 lakh in advance,” said Mishra. “The builders offer flats at low cost in a place like Dwarka, where property prices are already high. They have formed housing societies and have created websites to lure buyers and have been sending bulk text messages to people in Delhi-ncr about housing projects which legally cannot take any shape.”

The police said that their action will ensure that homebuyers are more aware when being approached by these agents and those who have already been duped will approach the EOW with their complaints. “We are scrutinising all these websites and will arrest the builders and promoters who have cheated the home buyers,” said Mishra.

A senior DDA official said that the agency has been issuing public notices informing people not to invest in such housing schemes as no land has been allotted to developers for any housing projects under land pooling policy.

“We have issued 35 such notices in the past. We want to tell people that before they invest in any housing scheme, they must check if the project is registered with Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) and whether the developer has a provisional development licence issued by the DDA,” said the official.

Joint CP Mishra too urged home buyers to do “leg work” before investing money in projects sold in the name of land pooling policy. “They must visit the site, meet the builders and promoters, check their credentials, ask for all documents , see if these lands even exist and whether they have been approved by the government or not,” said Mishra.