Residents ,Builders lock horns over delay in Society formation

MUMBAI:

Despite the promulgation of the Deemed Conveyance Act, developers and residents of even luxury housing complexes continue to be at loggerheads over the delay in getting the property transferred in the society's name. Under the law, a builder is required to convey the land and building within four months of its completion to the society.

But in case of Ashok Towers, a housing complex in Lalbaug, residents took possession of flats nearly three years ago but have been unable to form a society because of the developer Peninsula Land Ltd (PLL). Due to the nature of the complex and the condition imposed by the civic body at that time, a separate society would have to be formed for buildings constructed on leasehold and freehold land. Accordingly, the flat owners decided to form two societies�one for towers A, B and C situated on the freehold land, and one for tower D, situated on leasehold land.

Instead of forming two societies as per the majority owners' requirements, residents got a shock when the developer proposed to lease and not convey the land to the society. Not just that, PLL proposed to form an apex body of four residential towers, plus some shops known as Bayside Arcade and two other adjoining commercial complexes. "The sale agreement shows no mention of Bayside Arcade and further, the other two commercial complexes stand on a separate plot. We pointed this out to PLL, but they had no answer,'' residents say.

Similar is the case with residents of Oberoi Splendor on Jogeshwari-Vikhroli link road, who, for the past two years are waiting for Oberoi Realty Ltd to form a society.

Residents, who shifted about a year ago at The Imperial in Tardeo, the twin 60-storey towers constructed by S D Corporation (SDC), a consortium of Shapoorji Pallonji and businessmen Dilip Thacker, are questioning the formation of the condominium of apartments without the flat buyers' approval.

ORL, PLL and SD Corporation have vehemently denied the residents' allegations. An ORL spokesperson said the developer had taken steps to form a society by May 2013. "We had even planned an election in March 2013, but those have been disrupted by a handful of residents. We have already reserved the name for the society, collected signatures, opened bank accounts and made necessary payments to RBI,'' said the spokesperson.

PLL spokesperson said the issues with the residents have been resolved and the society is likely to be formed at the earliest. SD Corporation said that rules empower a developer to form a condominium of apartments or society.

"No rules have been broken. Some members are disgruntled and raking up this issue as they lost out to become a member of the managing committee of the richest condominium body,'' said an SD corporation official.

Will the 20:80 formula click?

ENS Economic Bureau 

Developers are wooing hesitant buyers with seemingly attractive payment schemes

. (Payment schemes such as 20:80 introduced by developers have made some impact in offloading inventories. Its success hinges on the price point and most important, track record in delivery, say a cross-section of experts

Developers, saddled with huge unsold inventories, are wooing hesitant buyers with seemingly attractive payment schemes.
Earlier, buyers kept off the sales counter as the price points were high, and the global slowdown resulted in delayed deliveries, and in many cases, projects not taking off at all. 

While price points do not look like they would witness a correction, developers are aggressively advertising payment schemes, the most popular being the 20:80 scheme and its variants such as the 25:75 or 35:65, with an aim to keep their sales counters abuzz with activity.

Under this scheme, the buyer pays 20 per cent of the unit price upfront and 80 per cent on possession, with the EMIs (equated monthly installments) in between being handled by the developers. This is usually advertised as 'no pre-EMIs' for a certain duration. Such developers undertake to pay the EMIs for up to two years, with the assurance that the buyer will get possession of the unit by then.
For example, if a flat costs Rs 40 lakh, the bank will pay Rs 30 lakh (80 per cent of cost) to the developer, say at an interest rate of 10 or 11 per cent. The developer will pay around Rs 25,000 per month to the bank for two years.
TAKING OFF

It is a huge gamble for developers who are taking the responsibility for interest payments on behalf of the buyer for a designated period. For some developers, however, it appears the move is yielding dividends. Enquiries are increasing, which has led to increased sales. "Deferred payment schemes like 20:80 and their variants have emerged as a major tool to stimulate sales. In Delhi NCR, developers like CHD, Indiabulls, Nirmal Lifestyle and Bdi, are offering the subvention scheme, which has resulted in improving their sales," says Rohit Kumar, head of India research at DTZ, a property consultancy.

EMI schemes triple Samsung's sales

Beryl Menezes  

Simple innovations like large screen size, cheapest finance schemes and multi-tasking capability can make a world of difference to sales of personal gadgets like smartphones, says Vineet Taneja, the new country head for mobile and digital imaging at Samsung India. He should know. After all, the South Korean chaebol has cemented its position as the market leader in India for two years running. Excerpts from an interview with tells Beryl Menezes.

What has been the key mobile product line-up that has cemented Samsung’s No.1 position in India?
We started the year on a high note with several successful launches, including the very successful Galaxy Grand and our latest flagship, the Galaxy S4. We also launched the Rex – a new series of smart feature phones that combine intelligence and capability to deliver an accessible, next-generation mobile experience for all Indian users, and expanded our tablet portfolio with the launch of the Galaxy Tab 2 311. We will continue to strengthen our position in the market through innovative product offerings, attractive consumer offers and an enhanced retail presence.

How important is your growth in the India market?
India is one of the top strategic markets for Samsung. This is evident from our investments in manufacturing, R&D and the fact that all launches in India happen simultaneously with their global introductions.

How would you describe Samsung’s innovation strategy?
At Samsung, innovation is key to everything we do. Today, consumers are spending more time with their smart devices, using them to stay connected with work, family and friends.

They are browsing the net, accessing social networking service or SNS, watching videos, playing games, downloading apps — all of which makes features like the screen size, the quality of display, ability to multi-task and the overall experience of the mobile very important.

Samsung in many ways is defining and leading this trend with innovations like the Note series, the Galaxy Grand and more recently, the Samsung Galaxy S4. Besides, with attractive EMI (equated monthly instalment) offers, we see a strong interest amongst consumers for our high-end devices. In fact, our finance scheme-backed sales have grown three times in value between January to April this year.

Are Samsung’s smartphones and tablets faring better than other makes? How does Samsung gather insights into consumer preferences for features?

Samsung is leading both the smartphone and the tablet segments in the Indian market. At Samsung, we focus on gaining consumer insights through both formal and informal channels. This may be through the R&D team, formal surveys, interaction with sales teams  and more.

  

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Govt gets power to arrest service tax defaulters

Govt gets power to arrest service tax defaulters

With the passage of Finance Bill 2013 last week, the Revenue department officials can now arrest a person for non-payment of collected service tax.

NEW DELHI: Service tax evaders beware! Failing to deposit this tax may attract arrest and imprisonment upto seven years.

With the passage of Finance Bill 2013 last week, the Revenue department officials can now arrest a person for non-payment of collected service tax.

Earlier, the officials did not have any power to arrest a person for service tax evasion. Besides, director and manager of a company who fail to pay collected service tax can now be arrested with imprisonment for upto seven years in addition to the penalty which may extend to Rs one lakh.

This is for the first time that service tax rules have been amended to attract the Criminal Procedure Code ( CrPC) in line with customs and central excise.

The Section 91, which was incorporated in this year's Finance Bill, provides power to arrest a person for non-payment of collected service tax, by an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Central Excise.

The Bill, which was passed on May 10, also imposes a penalty on a person or company liable to pay service tax and fails to take registration number from the government.

Finance Ministry implements amnesty scheme for service tax defaulters

Finance Ministry implements amnesty scheme for service tax defaulters

19 May, 2013,

Of the 17 lakh registered assesses under Service tax, only seven lakh were filing returns, Chidambaram had said.

NEW DELHI: Aimed at widening revenue from indirect tax, the Finance Ministry has implemented one-time amnesty scheme for service tax defaulters to pay their due without any penalty or late payment charges.

The 'Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme', which came into force after passage of Finance Bill on May 10, can be availed by a service tax defaulter by this year end.

A defaulter may declare his due tax liabilities, including the cess charges, for a period between October 1, 2007 and December 31, 2012 and pay it to the government after making a truthful declaration and can avoid penalty, interest or any other penal proceedings.

The first-of-its-kind scheme was introduced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram while presenting budget for 2013-14.

Of the 17 lakh registered assesses under Service tax, only seven lakh were filing returns, Chidambaram had said.

"Many have simply stopped filing returns. We cannot go after each of them. I have to motivate them to file returns and pay the tax dues. Hence, I propose to introduce a one-time scheme called 'Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme'," the Finance Minister had said.

However, any person who has furnished return and disclosed his true liability, but has not paid the disclosed amount of service tax or any part thereof, will not be eligible to make declaration for the period covered by the said return, the Finance Bill says.

To further encourage voluntary compliance by defaulters, the Finance Ministry has also decided to "reject" any enquiry or investigation against an evader, if he comes forward to make truthful declaration under this.

"A person may make a declaration to the designated authority on or before the 31st day of December, 2013," it said.

Sunteck evaluates branded residences for a BKC project

Sunteck evaluates branded residences for a BKC project

Sunteck Realty plans to enter the branded residence segment and is evaluating the concept for its super luxury residential projects in Bandra Kurla Complex.

MUMBAI: Luxury residential firm Sunteck Realty plans to enter the branded residence segment and is evaluating the concept for its super luxury residential projects in Bandra Kurla Complex, sources close to the development said.

The company is in talks with an international brand to put up global concepts like the Mandarin Residences or luxury brand residences like Versace designed homes or similar branded residences for one of its projects in the BKC, sources said.

It is currently developing three premium residential projects in the BKC.

When contacted, a Sunteck Realty spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

"Branded residences are an emerging concept in luxury housing, marked by developers tying up with celebrities, international luxury hospitality and lifestyle brand," a property consultant told PTI.

Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is the brand ambassador of Pune-based Amit Enterprises Housing.

Mumbai-based Lodha Group has partnered with Italian designer Giorgio Armani's interior design studio, Armani Casa, for the World Towers residential project in central Mumbai. The project includes World One, the world's tallest residential tower with 117 floors.

I am… K. Samuel - Real Estate Broker

I am… K. Samuel - Real Estate Broker

8 hours ago , By Aparna Karthikeyan

K. Samuel

“Tact is one of the most important qualities to be a house-broker,” says K. Samuel, who has been in the trade for the past five years. “Just yesterday, I had to tactfully excuse myself from both the owner and a client. The owner wanted the house to be viewed at a good time; the client came 20 minutes late, saying he was stuck in traffic. And I was stuck between them, when the owner wouldn’t let the prospective tenant in to see the house! Sometimes, clients stomp off saying they don’t want such a house!” smiles the 34-year-old.

Married to a schoolteacher, with twin daughters, Samuel (whose clients call him Shyam) happened into this business by chance. “I had completed a course in interior designing. While doing a Rs. 2 lakhs project, I saw a client give a man Rs.50,000 as commission. I asked him why he paid him so much money, and he said he had found him a tenant! After weeks of hard work, I only earned Rs.10,000! So I switched to brokering five years ago.”

But there’s huge competition in this business, says Samuel. Just around R.A. Puram (where he lives) and Mandaveli, there are nearly 200 brokers, out of which 50 are women. “The territory is split between us; some handle sale, some only rentals (few do both); and in the rental space, it’s according to rates.” Samuel deals with both rentals and sale, and handles apartments/ houses that fetch a rent of over Rs. 25,000 per month. In 2012, rents shot up, he says, and adds that rents of Rs. 2 or Rs. 3 lakhs are not uncommon now. Laughing at my “per month?,” he nods. In the suburbs, it’s still harder to find a good tenant, says Samuel. 

“On the OMR, there are many vacant apartments. One client bought two posh flats but he’s managed to rent out only one after a year. The other is still locked up, and the owner continues to pay Rs. 5000 p/m maintenance.” But in the heart of the city, it takes less than two weeks, on an average, to find a new tenant/ buyer. Owners typically prefer salaried employees, families, and vegetarians; for higher rent apartments, they’d like foreigners, explains Samuel. And the challenge is trying to find out about vacant apartments and get good tenants, to build the business. While Samuel prefers to use the Internet or contact the owners directly, he sometimes gets tip-offs from other brokers.

Recently, he had let out an apartment and received a commission of Rs.25,000. When he offered to split it with the broker who told him about the vacant apartment, he was told there were actually three other people – an ironwallah, a watchman and a housemaid, who had all passed on information. The money had to be split five-ways!

The business is all about give and take, Samuel says. “Recently, I showed a house to a lady; but her husband had seen and fixed the same house through another broker. I just left it, what to do? Sometimes, people ask questions like “Is there proof for showing me the house?” What do they expect us to do? Take a photo when they see it?” he laughs