Renaming city areas may prove costly
Builders who rename city’s areas to attract buyers, on occasion with false PIN numbers, could face legal action from the State government. Minister of State for Housing and Shiv Sena MLA Ravindra Waikar wrote to senior IAS officer Gautam Chatterji, in charge of constituting the State’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), asking him to include strict penal actions against builders advertising projects in areas made up by them. Mr. Waikar’s letter read: “It has been observed that for various real estate projects, the locality’s name has been changed without any legal support. Kalanagar has become BKCL, Jogeshwari is advertised as Andheri, Lower Parel becomes Upper Worli and so on. Such instances have been observed not only in Mumbai but in well-known areas of various cities.” He added that the advertisements also include false PIN codes, which fool buyers. “Changing the PIN code of an area is against the law and invites strict penal action. Buyers are being duped and subjected to financial loss in such cases. Strict legal action should be specified against such dubious ads and the builders responsible for them while formulating rules and regulations for RERA.” “This is illegal as builders have no right to change area names. By doing so, they are also cheating buyers in terms of property rates and with misleading marketing. Also, by renaming these areas and connecting them to other areas, these builders are not only belittling the renamed areas and creating animosity between residents, but also insulting old areas that are an important part of the city’s history and heritage,” Mr. Desai’s letter said.
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