Curation Team
NOIDA: Power supply at Logix Blossom County in Sector 137 was disconnected by PVVNL on Tuesday, the third such instance since Jan 2023, over unpaid builder dues exceeding Rs 90 lakh from Dec 2022 – which has now climbed to Rs 1.5 crore, including penalties.
The society’s AOA, which assumed charge in Jan 2023, claimed to have cleared all subsequent dues but refused to pay the builder’s outstanding amount.
The builder, Logix Infrastructure Private Limited, has been under bankruptcy proceedings under NCLT since July 2023. While the AOA has urged PVVNL to recover dues directly from the builder and promises to clear their portion by March 28, they also said that they plan to challenge the matter in court regarding the pre-2023 dues.
Residents expressed frustration over their suffering due to the builder-authority nexus, citing similar issues with other utilities like water supply, resulting in periodic service disruptions.
Speaking to TOI, Manoj Prasad, AOA president of the society, said that the builder had collected electricity dues from residents through pre-paid meters before the AOA took over.
“This misappropriation of residents’ funds and non-clearance of dues by the builder is not the residents’ burden,” he said, adding that the residents had demanded that the builder clear the electricity dues at the time, but the builder refused.
In the meantime, the AOA has to clear common area dues from the takeover date, amounting to Rs 22 lakh, by the March 28 date, which they have agreed to.
Furious residents raised the question of why they were the ones suffering from these disconnections when they are regularly paying off their own dues. “When the supply is disconnected, it is never for less than 4-5 hours, and we have to bear the brunt of additional DG charges,” Prasad said.
Prasad added that PVVNL had received a security deposit of Rs 78 lakh, but the society has not gotten interest credit on this amount since 2023. “The discom needs to correct the bill by factoring interest earned on the security deposit. We will not take the builder’s liability since residents have paid their dues in advance. We will fight this matter in the court now,” said Prasad.
Pushpendra Kumar, sub-divisional officer (SDO) zone 3, Noida power department, told TOI that power was disconnected at the society on Tuesday from 9am to 4pm. “Multiple notices were served to the society, after which supply was cut. We restored the supply around 5pm after receiving assurance from the AOA that their dues will be cleared by March 28,” he said.
Meanwhile, residents further expressed their frustrations over the added financial burden the disconnections put on them.
“We had to rely on DG supply for power and bear the brunt of an 8-hour power disconnection at the cost Rs 20 per unit. Imagine the burden on residents who are already paying high electricity charges of Rs 7.7 per unit in a condo,” said Jaswinder Singh Bedi, a resident of the society.
