Can the Flat owner get the Occupancy Certificate of his Flat ?

Dear Sir, Can the Registered Flat owner get the Occupancy Certificate of his Flat from local body instead of getting it from the Builder ? The following is our concern and situation. We own a Flat in an Apartment/Multi-storey building (consisting of 45 flats) in Hyderabad, which is nearing completion, except electrical and plumbing related fixings and cellar car parking. Even though the registered flat owners have paid all the money, the builder is threatening and blackmailing the flat owners by asking some vague amount of money towards the service tax (he is doing this depending on the type are customer). If we are not willing to give the money he asked, he is saying that he will not give the OC to the flat owners and we cannot get the possession of the flat also. By the way, we have already paid some amount towards the service tax that need to be paid by him to the local body. Considering this situation, we would like to know if there is a way for the registered flat owners to get the Occupancy Certificate directly from the local/municipal authorities, instead of getting it from the builder, once the builder gets the Completion certificate for the entire building...? Your guidance and suggestion is really helpful for us. Thank you so much for your time and effort in providing the reply. You are doing an excellent service of advising people in unknown areas. Thanks.