BENGALURU: Hundreds of families, desperate to live in their dream homes in ‘Ozone Urbania’ at Devanahalli, after having invested up to Rs 1 crore each, are seeking justice. Nineteen investors on Tuesday filed an FIR at Kodigehalli police station in North Bengaluru, against Ozone Group and its top management, for criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy.
The township of 5,000 apartments found a ready market when it opened for sale in 2015, due to its location near the airport. It’s been four years past the deadline of 2017-end,and investors are distraught.
Mohit Sharma, the main complainant, says, “I’ve been paying Rs 57,000 pre-EMI (interest on loan borrowed) every month on the loan taken for the past 2.5 years.
This, despite a tripartite agreement between the buyer, property developer and HDFC that this sum must be borne by the builder if there is a delay.” The CEO sends us frequent mails stating that the project would be ready within six months, but this promise is never kept, says Sharma. He had taken the builder to RERA in 2019, but he got away, saying the company would issue credit notes. “The builder says they don’t have finances at present, and keep issuing credit notes to us. I now have credit notes worth Rs 20 lakh,” he adds.
Veterinary doctor Seema J Verma, who paid up to Rs 1 crore for her 4BHK house in Aqua II block, said, “We keep getting assurances that it will be completed. My mother-in-law recently passed away and we want to move in and take care of our father-in-law.” The latest deadline given is March 2022, she added.
Nearly 1,000 houses have been readied and occupied, but residents have numerous issues, including lack of permanent electricity connection and Occupancy Certificate, Verma said.
Managing Director of Ozone Urbania S Vasudevan told The New Indian Express, “We acknowledge that there has been a delay on our part. But that happens in a massive project of this size, and we are handing over completed apartments regularly. No buyer will undergo loss, and we are compensating them for expense incurred because of the delay.”