The Haryana government wants to do away with the prelaunch practice which according to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is a gross violation of the Urban Development Act.

Recently, Madhu Samita, the district town planner of Rewari, had issued notices to a number of developers and dealers involved in pre-launch sales. "This will check financiers and speculators from large-scale bookings of the properties which some of the developers have been offering for years," said HUDA administrator S.P. Gupta. "Selling of apartments and plots under the pre-launch category has no legal standing and is a clear cut violation of the Punjab Schedule Roads and Controlled Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development Act 1963 and Haryana Urban Area Development Act 1975. We have decided to put an end to this practice and have warned the developers first. We will book them under IPC if found guilty," Gupta added. Gupta has also asked the town planning departments of Gurgaon and Mahendragarh to take strong action against such developers and property dealers who are involved in pre-launch sales.

The Haryana CM has expressed serious concern on the matter.

The department will soon put up a legal notice in various newspapers warning developers against 'pre-launching' of their projects.

• Some reputed developers also have decided to raise booking amount of their new apartments and plots from 10 to 20 per cent and put a rider restraining the new buyer from selling his property not before three installments. "The idea is to keep financiers and dealers away from booking large number of apartments and plots by paying tiny amount in the form of earnest money and continue trading the same multiple number of times," said Dharmendra Bhandari, director Bestech Group.
• Ansal's Properties president N K Sehgal, who said that his com- pany never pre-launched any of their projects, welcomed the move. But he said, "People look- ing for viable properties deposit advance payments with us for fu- ture projects. We give preference to such people in allotment of apartments and plots. They are assured of properties in speci- fied time period and if we fail to do so, their money is returned."