Noida authority seals assets of realtor over dues, suspends official

The Noida authority has taken stringent action against realtors who have failed to clear their financial dues, sealing properties and suspending an official for negligence on Saturday, the civic body officials said on Sunday.
In the first instance, the authority sealed three shops belonging to Prateek Realtors India Private Limited in Sector 120 after the company failed to pay ₹50 crore in dues, despite multiple notices. In a related move, an assistant in the authority was suspended for failing to act promptly against the Saha Group, another defaulter realty firm, they added. 
“We issued a notice to Prateek Realtors India Private Limited to pay ₹12.62 crore, which is 25% of their total dues of ₹50.49 crore. The realtor has only paid ₹1.5 crore so far and failed to clear the remaining amount,” said Lokesh M, chief executive officer, Noida authority. 
The Noida authority had allotted land to Prateek Group for a housing project in 2009, with a lease deed executed in January 2020. Under a state government policy issued in December 2023 to resolve issues with stalled legacy housing projects, developers were allowed to avail of interest waivers for the COVID-19 pandemic period, provided they paid 25% of their dues upfront, with the balance to be paid in instalments over 1-3 years. Despite the policy, Prateek Realtors failed to settle the ₹50.49 crore dues, prompting the sealing of three commercial shops within their Sector 120 project, Noida authority officials claimed. 
The promoter of Prateek Group, Prashant Kumar Tiwari, did not respond to multiple requests by HT for a comment. 
In a separate case, the authority suspended an assistant for not following instructions by senior officers and neglecting to act on time against MMR Saha, which owns a commercial plot in Sector 52.
“Due to the negligence of the assistant, the authority’s financial interests were affected. We took action because the instructions regarding the realtor were not followed by the suspended official,” said the CEO. 
This follows prior action by the Noida authority against at least six other developers who have failed to comply with the state government’s interest waiver scheme. These developers, like Prateek Realtors, have been unable to obtain no-dues certificates, which are necessary to proceed with the registry of apartments for homebuyers.