New Delhi: Divas Vats invested Rs 1.2 crore in an apartment in Gurugram in 2022, believing that by 2024, he would have his new home in the same city where his office is located, and the UP to Haryana daily commute would end. However, the home—which was supposed to be ready within a year with all the promised facilities—has still not been delivered.
“We were shown under-construction flats with the assurance that they would be ready within a year and that we could celebrate Diwali in 2023 in our new home,” said Vats, 36. “But even after four years, construction remains incomplete. We have been deceived.”
Originally marketed as a 1,600-unit township in Gurugram’s Sector 61, M3M-linked Smartworld Developers allegedly bifurcated the Smart World project into ‘Green’ and ‘Avenue’ after securing payments. On 13 January, Vats and 38 others of the nearly 800 homebuyers — all of them from the Smart World Avenue segment — approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) with a complaint.
The buyers alleged that the marketing brochures depicted direct entry from Sector 61 road (opposite Grand Hyatt) and presence of “green areas”. After paying more than 90 per cent of the cost for units priced between Rs 1.1 crore and Rs 2.4 crore, buyers later discovered that their balconies faced a crematorium and that the promised main road access did not exist. Only flats in the Green segment have direct access to the main road.
“It was nothing but blatant cheating and fraud,” said Vats. “We were shown a single gated community—one large, unified land parcel. But when we visited the site, we realised it was divided into multiple parcels separated by public roads.”
The NCDRC heard the matter on 31 January and issued a notice to the developer, while ordering a stay on any coercive action against the homebuyers.
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The shocking discovery
Apart from the crematorium, buyers also pointed out the ‘flawed’ and ‘unplanned’ roads inside the housing complex. Due to an intervening revenue road and divided land parcels, access to certain blocks required a connecting bridge, they added.
“The bridge was either never properly approved or constructed without the necessary permissions. Villagers objected and demolished it. Now the developer is offering access from the back—through a village and an underdeveloped area—which significantly reduces the property’s value,” said another home buyer on the condition of anonymity.
To attract buyers, the developer allegedly offered pre-EMI schemes, rental guarantees, and subvention plans. Under a tripartite agreement between the buyers, the bank, and the developer, the developer was to service the EMI until possession. For a home loan of about Rs 1 crore, the monthly EMI is roughly Rs 75,000.
“In July 2024, they abruptly stopped paying the EMI, claiming they had received the Occupancy Certificate,” said another buyer. Buyers have claimed that only around 10 per cent of the construction has been completed, yet the financial burden has been shifted to them.
“Construction wasn’t complete. My unit wasn’t ready. But they stopped all benefits. Now I have to pay rent, the EMI, and the expenses of the court case,” said Vats.
After months of unsuccessful attempts at negotiation through emails, calls, and meetings with company officials, the buyers approached the NCDRC. “We trusted the brand. We trusted the promises. Now we are simply asking for what was sold to us,” said Vats.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)