‘Inaccurate reports have led to confusion’

While the Noida Authority CEO Rama Raman was not available for comment, the officer on special duty, Manoj Rai, blamed inaccurate media reports for the confusion over the date of implementation of UP Apartment Act 2010. According to Rai, the UP Apartment Act was implemented in Uttar Pradesh in 2010 and “it’s obvious that all development authorities, whether Noida or Ghaziabad, come under its purview since then.”

“It’s incorrect to say that Noida has issued a notification for the implementation of the UP Apartment Act from June 2, 2014. The said act is in operation everywhere in Uttar Pradesh since 2010. We have only modified the rules of the UP Apartment Act to bring clarity in the process of implementation,” says Rai. According to the Uttar Pradesh Apartment (Promotion of Construction, Ownership and Maintenance Rules, 2011, the competent authority means the vice-chairman of the development authority.

However Noida being an industrial development authority has a CEO as competent authority and not the VC. Similarly, Rules 2011 are about the Municipal Corporation, but in Noida, the Noida Authority performs the functions of the municipal activities. “So we have amended these minor provisions of the Rules, 2011 so that it brings more clarity to the implementation of the act,” Rai adds.

Asked if people could complain to the authority about any violation of building rules between March 2010 to June 2, 2014, Rai answered in affirmative and said, “I reiterate for everyone that nothing has changed on June 2, 2014, as the act was in operation in the state since 2010. When told to clarify why there was no information about modification of rules on the Authority’s website, Rai said that it would take some time as the board resolution had come just a few days ago.

However, Rai refused to comment on the three-year delay in the modification of the Uttar Pradesh Apartment (Promotion of Construction, Ownership and Maintenance Rules, 2011).