Most people would probably be familiar with the name of realty giant 'Aliens'. These people flooded the public with their advertisements regarding their projects in Hyderabad and got quite a lot of people to cough up money for their ventures.
But the Telangana agitation proved to be a severe setback and the economic downturn which the agitation created saw them accumulate some huge losses.
Customers were refused possession of flats until they shelled out amounts far in excess of what was originally agreed upon.
For example, Vinay Reddy, an assistant professor from Warangal booked a unit for Rs 45 lakh in 2010. The company is now asking him to pay Rs 90 lakh, a neat 100% jump.
Responding to the public outcry, the MD of the group, Hari Challa was arrested two month ago. But no charge sheet has been filed against him whereas the two other accused in the case, Venkat Prasanna Challa (Joint MD) and CVR Chowdary (Director) are still absconding.
Though a representation was made to the Home Minister of Telangana, no action has been taken and the firm continues to sell its units at exorbitant prices in violation of agreements that it has signed with customers.
Meanwhile, people like Vinay Reddy continue to pay EMI’s for homes which are non-existent. There are serious allegations that the firm is being protected by cops and politicians who have a stake.
“We thought there would be some positive development post the arrest. But things are still the same. The company is comfortably selling its units at a higher rate and the authorities are sitting pretty. If this is because a lot of VIPs have invested in the venture, then I think that's extremely shameful,” says one affected buyer.
While locally placed persons can at least go in for a status update, those who have invested from overseas cannot do so for obvious reasons.
Moral of the story: Mega-advertising is not an indication of integrity.
