The residents of Prateek Wisteria on Sunday staged a protest against the Prateek Group (builder) over the steep hike of maintenance charge by 16 per cent which came into effect from September 1.
According to the residents, the builder informed the residents about the hike through a circular which was released only two days back. The old maintenance charge was Rs 2.35 per sqft plus GST but now the builder wants Rs 2.75 per sqft plus GST.
For the commercial spaces, the builder hiked maintenance charge by 100 percent. A shop owner, who was paying the maintenance charge of Rs 5 per sqft, will have to now pay Rs 10 per sqft.
The builder had called the police to stop the protest but police failed to stop the protest and left the society empty handed. Noida News
Nisha Rai, general secretary of AOA told City Spidey that if the new charges are applicable than residents will have to pay Rs 3.20 per sqft including all taxes.
“Residents and AOA complained to Noida Authority about the seepages and cracks in few towers of the society. After the complaint, officers of Noida Authority visited the society and prepared a report on it. They sent the report to the builder and asked them to resolve the matter as soon as possible," Rai said.
Rai also said that the developer hiked the maintenance charge to take care of the seepages and cracks in the building.
“The builder deducted the maintenance charge through the prepaid meter. The AOA had already sent a notice to builder to handover the maintenance and give control of the prepaid meter collecting system. They also demanded the control of software and digital keys by 3rd September. We did not want any hike. The hiked maintenance charge is also high in comparison to the other nearby societies," Rai said.
A resident, Neeraj Veermani, said that they requested and asked the residents to avoid buying anything from Prateek Group’s general store which is inside the society premises. Residents accepted our request and joined the protest.
Veermani further said that they have formed a 12-member team which will represent the residents during the talks with builder. “This protest will be continued until the builder reverses his decision," he added.
When City Spidey tried to contact SK Mittal, vice-president of Prateek Group, he was not available for comment.
