6 days ago
South Korean woman says Gurgaon mall cut utilities at her restaurant; police play mediator
For over a decade, South Korean national Hyeyoung Lee has been running her restaurant, MISO, at Global Foyer Mall on Gurgaon's Golf Course Road.
Earlier this week, to her shock, she received a demand notice of Rs 9 lakh from the mall management for damage to the building caused by alleged water leakage from her restaurant.
She refused to pay the amount — resulting in the disconnection of her electricity and water supply, police said.
On Thursday, Lee lodged a written complaint against the mall management alleging harassment over wrongfully calculated unpaid dues. The firm that runs the mall refuted the claims.
In a video posted by the woman on Instagram Friday, she said she's been running her restaurant for 12 years. 'For the last 24 hours, my light and water have been disconnected. I have made so many requests, but no one is listening. I had given a written complaint at Sushant Lok Police Station, but till now no one has come to help me out,' she stated in the video.
On Friday, police arranged a meeting between the parties concerned at the Sushant Lok police station to discuss the issue.
'Despite the matter being of a civil nature, Gurugram police facilitated a meeting between the two sides. The dispute over electricity and water was resolved during the meeting. Both parties agreed to hold another meeting on Monday, in the presence of their legal teams, to address the pending Rs 9 lakh dispute,' a Gurgaon Police spokesperson said.
The electricity connection was restored (for now) around 12.30 pm Saturday, the woman told The Indian Express.
Lee (43), who has been living in Gurgaon since 2011, said she has been facing issues with the mall management since last October, when they allegedly began sending her inflated water bills.
'I've been receiving water bills of Rs 25,000 per month. When my restaurant was on the ground floor, it never exceeded Rs 5,000,' she claimed.
She also alleged that the management is harassing her so that she vacates the premises, adding that she has three years left on her current lease.
On August 5 (Tuesday), the realty company operating the mall issued a 'final and non-negotiable' notice to the restaurant alleging multiple breaches — that its water leakage caused Rs 9.5 lakh damage to passenger lifts, and Rs 2 lakh damage to the false ceiling, risking collapse.
It demanded that the payment be made within 24 hours and threatened disconnection of services, legal action, and eviction if it was not met.
Lee refuted the allegations. 'The leak is from one of their pipelines. There are no pending bills, our accountants have tallied and verified multiple times.'
The water leak has also destroyed parts of her restaurant, she claimed.
Dhirendra Singh, director of Rajdurbar Buildcon Private Limited, which runs the mall through a holding company, told The Indian Express Saturday that the matter has been resolved.
He rejected all allegations, particularly of wrongful bills being demanded and plans to evict the restaurant.
'They have accepted their dues amounting to around Rs 12 lakh+GST,' he claimed.
'There are a hundred other shops in the mall, and no one else has ever filed any complaint against us. Why would I create issues towards getting rental income?' he added.
