Builders skirt SC order, sell parking slots

Ravi Kukreja (name changed) received an ultimatum from his builder last month. He was asked to pay Rs 6 lakh in cash before November 30 for a parking slot in an upcoming residential building in Goregaon (W). "If I missed the deadline, the amount would increase to Rs 8 lakh from December 1," said a shocked Kukreja, who has booked a 1,700-sq-ft apartment for Rs 1.2 crore. "The builder's staff warned me they would cancel my booking by month-end and return the money. I have decided to fight it out,'' he said. 

    In Kharghar, a developer asked Sandeep Shah to shell out Rs 5 lakh for parking. "The apartment we booked is itself Rs 45 lakh. There is no choice but to pay up,'' he said. In Vashi, another builder is charging Rs 15 lakh for a single car park. 
    Residents of Mumbai and surrounding regions face daily frustration due to improper parking infrastructure. Even when the infrastructure is there, they are unfairly charged too much for it. It was no surprise then that the respondents in The Times Of India-IMRB Quality Of Life Survey rated parking facilities as poor in all eight mega-cities. Delhi's and Mumbai's facilities were considered the best, but the cities scored a poor 2.1 and 2, respectively, on a scale of 1 to 5. 
    Across Mumbai, builders continue to charge flat buyers for parking slots, despite the Supreme Court ruling in 2010 that developers cannot sell parking areas as independent units. These areas are "common areas and facilities" for flat owners. The judgment rejected the argument of a real estate development company that it is entitled to sell garages and stilt parking as separate units to owners who want to use them for parking. 
    "If a promoter does not fully disclose the common areas and facilities, he does so at his own peril," the court said. "Stilt parking spaces would not cease to be part of common areas and facilities merely because the promoter has not described the same as such in the advertisement and agreement with the flat purchaser. The promoter has no right to sell any portion of such building which is not a 'flat' within the meaning of Section 2(A-1) and the entire land and building has to be conveyed to the organization. The only right that remains with the promoter is to sell unsold flats." 
    The SC passed the judgment while dismissing the appeal of promoter Nahalchand Laloochand Pvt Ltd, which challenged the Bombay high court's ruling that under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act a builder cannot sell parking in the stilt area as independent flats or garages. 
    Since the apex court order, builders now demand cash, said advocate Vinod Sampat. "Some prominent builders ask buyers to write the cheque in the name of a loss-making company they own, but which has nothing to do with the building project,'' he said. 
    Property consultant Kishore Narang said rates differ from area to area. "It could be Rs 3 to 4 lakh in Dahisar. In the Bandra-Santa Cruz belt it could be double that,'' he said. Real estate sources said stilt parking in a new building in a far-flung suburb like Borivli could be as high as Rs 7 lakh. In the Nepean Sea Road area, a closed garage in an old skyscraper could go for Rs 35 to 40 lakh. On Pedder Road, a builder quoted Rs 1.5 crore for an area demarcated for parking in a premium residential highrise. "It is another matter that this parking area will later be used for another purpose," said a source. 
    In new buildings in the Bandra-Khar region, a car slot could fetch a builder Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakh. In Nariman Point, each open-tosky space in a good building fetches Rs 15 lakh while basement parking goes up to Rs 20 lakh. In the Bandra-Kurla Complex, some builders charge Rs 15 lakh for "stack parking''. 
    Several builders, not wishing to be identified, said they can't let go of this revenue. "Either we take the money in cash or increase the price of the flat, or quote a lumpsum rate,'' one said. 
    But Sampat said parking is free of Floor Space Index (FSI) and for builders to charge for something not in the FSI is unethical. A developer said they incur costs for building stilt, basement or podium parking and this has to be recovered. 
    Last year, some unscrupulous builders hit upon a new plan to cash in on parking. With the connivance of BMC building proposal officials, they got plans sanctioned for parking decks on each floor and then sold the space as part of the apartment. However, the BMC recently stopped passing such proposals after the modus operandi was exposed by TOI.