Gurgaon: Prolonged delay, non-compliance and failure to make substantial construction progress. Citing them, Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) has cancelled the licence granted to Ocean Seven Buildtech for developing an affordable group housing project in Sector 109.The cancellation order for Expressway Towers — spread over 7.5acre — was issued on Aug 7 under Section 8 of the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975.The cancellation has been welcomed by Expressway Towers Gurgaon Buyers Association, which had approached DTCP on March 2 seeking govt intervention to get the stalled project completed through a third-party or alternate developer.“Ten years after the licence was first granted, our homes exist only on paper,” an association representative said. The buyers’ body has demanded immediate appointment of an alternate developer, complete accountability for money already collected from homebuyers and time-bound completion of the project.Following cancellation, DTCP has also ordered that the entire licensed land and building of the colony be deemed to vest with govt and barred the licensee from further alienation or creation of third-party rights. The next key step for the affected buyers will therefore be the implementation of the Rule 19 process and the possible appointment of an agency to complete the long-stalled project.The order makes a serious observation regarding the money collected from homebuyers, saying that substantial diversion of funds received from allottees for construction and execution of the project appeared prima facie.DTCP also directed the licensee to provide details of payments received from allottees who had made payments but were allegedly not issued receipts.According to the order, the licence — originally granted on June 16, 2016 — expired on June 15, 2021, and was not validly renewed.Despite repeated notices and hearings, the department said there was no substantial construction at the site. A joint inspection on July 6, 2026, also found no meaningful progress compared with the earlier inspection in March 2025.DTCP said the developer had failed to comply with licence conditions, Affordable Housing Policy, 2013, and Rules 24, 26(2), 27 and 28 of the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Rules, 1976.The department also referred to earlier action against Ocean Seven group. The licence — along with those of 2018 and 2019 — had been suspended in Feb 2023.The order records registration of an FIR dated Aug 31, 2025, by Haryana State Enforcement Bureau. It also refers to Dec 2025 correspondence from the Enforcement Directorate concerning an investigation into alleged violations of licence conditions, RERA provisions and diversion of homebuyers’ funds.The association is now pressing DTCP to implement Rule 19 without further delay. Significantly, the cancellation order itself directs initiation of the process under Rule 19, under which the project can be taken forward through a third-party agency.
