The residents of Supertech Capetown, a high-rise in Sector-74, staged a protest against the developer over a six rupees plus GST per unit increase in the power backup rates. Residents said that the builder arbitrarily and unjustifiably increased the DG Set consumption rates. Noida News
On July 22, the builder had informed the residents of Supertech Capetown, Sector-74 and Supertech Eco Village, Noida Extension about the hike in backup charges via a notice on their respective noticeboards. The old DG Set consumption charges paid by the residents was Rs 17 per unit whereas the new charges of Rs. 23 + GST per unit came into effect from this month. Now the residents are demanding that the builder roll back this charge.
This notice was posted on the societies' respective noticeboards by the builder.
Bhupendra Routela, a resident of Capetown, said that after a long fight in the builder’s office, the builder is has agreed to a meeting with the residents on August 8. “Any decision which can impact or financially burden the residents should be implemented only after due discussions take place with the residents. But unfortunately, by pasting this notice, the developer has circumvented the discussions completely which is totally unfair,” he added.
Routela also said that the residents are also complaining about the height of the chimney installed in the society by the developer that emits smoke from the generator. According to the residents, the height of the chimney is lower than the surrounding buildings, hence the smoke emitted is a danger to everyone in its vicinity. Allegedly, many residents have consequently been facing breathing problems. “Towers CMC2 and CV3 are the ones that have been affected the most. The residents are demanding that the height of the chimney be raised, or that it be removed from the location altogether,” he added.
Residents of ECO-Village have also been bearing the brunt of the hike. Sameer Bhardwaj, a resident of Supertech Eco Village, told City Spidey that the builder, at the time of booking, had assured the residents that the power backup not only runs on eco-friendly CNG but also costs less compared to a Diesel Generator. “If the power backup is being run on CNG then we ought to be paying less than the present amount which is around Rs 10 per unit but till date the builder has made no arrangements for this,” Bharadwaj added.
According to Bhardwaj, the builder has not fulfilled the promise made in the brochure and not even a single “CNG operated Genset” has been installed. As a result, the residents have been burdened with increasing operational costs of Diesel Gensets. Residents also brought the matter to Greater Noida Authority’s attention and they were assured that action will be taken.
Bhardwaj also asked that when the other nearby societies’ backup rates are no more than Rs 15 per unit then why only Supertech has increased charges by an hefty amount. “There is some problem with the builder’s meter too. Sometimes the meter reading shows around 70 units for a single day when the residents might have only used 20 units in the day. This is also grossly unjustified,” he added.
Supertech spokeperson said that they are ready to hear the problems of the residents and a meeting has been scheduled with the Capetown residents on Wednesday in the society.
