A South Korean restaurant owner in Gurgaon is locked in a dispute with the management of Global Foyer Mall, where she has run her restaurant for more than a decade.
Hyeyoung Lee, 43, owns the Korean restaurant MISO. Recently, mall authorities accused her of causing water leaks that damaged the building. They issued a demand notice of Rs 9 lakh for repairs, but she refused to pay, calling the charges false. Soon after, police said the mall cut her electricity and water supply.
To fight back, Lee filed a complaint at Sushant Lok Police Station. She argued that her restaurant had no pending dues and that the charges were inflated. In a video on Instagram, she explained that power and water stayed cut for over 24 hours. She added that she made repeated requests for help, yet no one responded.
On Friday, the police stepped in and organized a meeting between Lee and the mall management. A Gurgaon Police spokesperson said the matter was civil but they wanted both sides to talk. During the meeting, the parties agreed to meet again on Monday with their lawyers to discuss the Rs 9 lakh claim. By Saturday, the mall restored electricity to her restaurant.
Lee has lived in Gurgaon since 2011 and has run her restaurant for 12 years. Her troubles with the mall began last October, when her water bills suddenly jumped to around Rs 25,000 a month. Earlier, while her restaurant was on the ground floor, bills never crossed Rs 5,000. She believes the mall is pressuring her to vacate the space, even though her lease has three years left.
On August 5, Rajdurbar Buildcon Private Limited, which manages the mall, sent her a “final and non-negotiable” notice. The company claimed her restaurant’s water leakage caused Rs 9.5 lakh damage to the passenger lifts and Rs 2 lakh to the false ceiling. It demanded immediate payment and warned that they would cut off services, take legal action, or evict her. Lee rejected the charges, saying the leak came from the mall’s own pipelines.
Dhirendra Singh, director of Rajdurbar Buildcon, later told reporters that both sides had resolved the matter. He dismissed Lee’s allegations and said, “They have accepted their dues amounting to around Rs 12 lakh plus GST.” He also pointed out that none of the other hundred shops in the mall ever raised similar complaints.
The dispute highlights the struggles of small business owners in Gurgaon, a fast-growing city in India’s National Capital Region. Many entrepreneurs face rising costs and sudden conflicts over utilities. The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram has already faced criticism for poor water supply management, and Lee’s case reflects these problems.
As the case moves forward, other business owners are watching closely. The outcome may influence how entrepreneurs are treated in Gurgaon’s commercial centers.
