Consumer court orders Gurgaon builder to refund Rs 86 lakh to homebuyer

The country's apex consumer forum NCDRC has ordered a Gurgaon-based real estate developer to refund the entire principal amount of around Rs 86 lakh to a buyer alongwith interest at the rate of 9% from the date of each payment until the date of refund and Rs 25,000 as cost of litigation for causing inordinate delay in possession of the residential unit.

"The Opposite Party shall refund the entire principal amount of Rs 86,13,427 to the complainants along with compensation in the form of simple interest on that amount at 9 percent per annum with effect from the date of each payment, till the date of refund. The opposite party shall also pay a sum of Rs.25,000/- as cost of the litigation to the complainants. The payment in terms of this order shall be paid within three months from today," NCDRC ruled.

The consumer court has ordered the developer Vatika to refund  the entire principal amount of Rs.86.13 lakh to the homebuyers along with compensation in the form of simple interest on that amount @ 9% per annum with effect from the date of each payment, till the date of refund.

"The opposite party shall also pay a sum of Rs 25,000 as cost of the litigation to the Complainants. The payment in terms of this order shall be paid within three months from today," it said in the ruling.

Homebuyers had booked a residential unit in a project namely Vatika Tranquil Heights which the developer was to develop in Sector 82 A, Gurgaon. The unit located on the  21st floor measured 2650 sq  ft was allotted to the buyers for Rs 1,74 crore in the project, it said.

Related stories

Vandana Ramnani

Associate Editor, Real Estate|Moneycontrol News

• 
  Amitabh Bachchan gifts Juhu home, Prateeksha, to daughter
• 
  All about China’s real estate crisis and India’s property market boom
• 
  Prestige Group targeting sales of Rs 20,000 cr this fiscal: Irfan Razack, MD

The flat was to be delivered by Aug 24, 2019.

The developed claimed that the complaint made by the buyer was pre-matured as the complainant did not wait till the agreed date of possession,  August 24 and filed the present complaint in the year 2018; the complainant is not a consumer as and that he had booked the unit for the purpose of investment and not for their own self-use and occupation, it said.

The unit was likely to be completed within 48 months of the date of execution of the Builder-Buyer Agreement. Due to inordinate delay in possession of the unit, the buyer had filed a complaint and sought a refund.

“In the instant case also the complainants cannot be made to wait indefinitely as the possession of the flat has not been handed over to them so far and the opposite party is enjoying the benefits of their hard-earning money deposited with it. Therefore, the complainants are also entitled for refund of the principal amount with reasonable interest and compensation,” the court ruled.

"Such a judgment by NCDRC clearly indicates a strict approach rule being adopted by the courts now in case of builder- buyer disputes. Builders are being put on a yardstick which is determined by law that tries to negate the losses caused to innocent homebuyers," said advocate Aditya Parolia who represented the homebuyers.