ANDHRA PRADESH HOUSING BOARD CHEATS APPLICANTS

UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF A.P.H.B. TO COVER UP LOSSES

The A.P.H.B headed by a dictatorial, whimsical and a tyrant IAS Officer Mr Mohanty with absolutely no control over him by the State Govt. has introduced draconian rules and forfeited the huge deposits of applicants under “Singapore Township” taken up at Pocharam village in the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The Board has totally failed to provide the basic amenities like drinking water (Krishna river drinking water by pipeline) electricity and piped LPG connection,, primary school for the children and a dispensary to take care of emergency cases of inmates, sewage disposal system, street lighting, transport arrangement and internal security by the due date i.e.11th March, 2005 before giving possession of the flats.

It is atrocious that a State Govt. Agency instead of accepting its total failure to execute the project of international standards as boasted by it within the time frame by providing the basic infrastructure has forfeited the huge deposits of applicants when they had intended to withdraw from the scheme disappointed over its failure to create facilities before handing over the flats. Both the print and electronic media have lambasted the APHB and highlighted its miserable failure in providing the dire necessities of life supported by clinching photographic evidence flashed in vernacular and English prominent dailies.

Due to inefficiency, incompetence, mismanagement and rampant corruption prevailing in A.P.H.B., it has been incurring huge losses and to tide over its financial crisis, it has resorted to the forfeiture of deposits of unwary applicants against all canons of natural justice. Misled by the tall claims and aggressive publicity by the APHB; my son, Mr S.L. Narasimha Rao, Hyderabad has deposited the first installment of Rs.15,000/- to the Board for a Duplex Flat on 25-11-04 Vide Application No.20007. However, to satisfy himself the ground realities of the much publicized Housing Project and to gather first hand information, he had visited the site immediately thereafter and was shocked to see that the execution of construction of dwelling units was tardy and was convinced for sure that the basic amenities would not be ready for handing over by 11th March, 2005, the dead line fixed by APHB on its own. (My son’s worst fears came true as the APHB had failed to provide essential facilities by the due date 11th March, 2005.) My son has a 5 year old daughter and in the absence of a primary school in the Singapore Township at that time, it was felt highly risky to expose the child to the traffic hazards, high levels of pollution besides stress and strain for shuttling 80 km to and fro daily in the hustle and bustle of city life.

My son had therefore expressed his desire to withdraw from the Scheme and requested for the refund on 06-12-2004 of Rs.15,200/- paid to the APHB without any delay on his part. It is relevant to mention here that no terms and conditions have been spelt out to the applicants at any stage except for a vague indication in the application form that the applicant would abide by all the terms and conditions of APHB. This is considered as a mischievous statement and shows lack of transparency and clarity and is mainly intended to dupe the applicants. No agreement of whatsoever had been entered into by both the parties at the time of acceptance of application.

When there was no response from the APHB, my son had filed a case against the Board in the District Consumers’ Forum, Nampally, Hyderabad and the case was decided in his favour. However, the shameless Board has now appealed to the State Commission which has granted a stay to the APHB despite the scathing remark made by the District Forum that collection of huge amount of Rs.15,000/- as name registration fee and stating that it is not refundable certainly amounts to Unfair Trade Practices committed by APHB.

It is very sad that the case will take another 2 to 3 years in the State Commission in view of the long list of pending cases according to my son’s lawyer. In the present case, even the legal and other miscellaneous expenses incurred by my son have not been compensated by the Consumer Court. Owing to public outcry, resentment and indignation, the Board, at last, has conveyed its willingness to refund the deposits of 1st and 2nd notifications without effecting any recovery.

However, it has forfeited the deposits under 3rd and 4th notifications which is highly discriminatory as against equality of law which is to be ensured as per Article 14 guaranteed under the Indian Constitution especially when the last date for taking possession is one and the same for all the applicants i.e. 31st March, 2005 in respect of all the notifications.

Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, UPA is therefore requested for her immediate intervention in the matter and for issuing necessary directive to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to set right the gross injustice done to the applicants under Singapore Township.

S. Srinivasa Rao
DDA MIG Flat No.631, Sec.8, Pocket-C/8, Rohini, Delhi-110085
91119312267393 (M)