The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has directed real estate developer Raheja Developers to refund the amount paid by homebuyers along with interest for delaying its project Revanta located in Sector 78, Gurgaon.
“The opposite party is directed to refund the entire amount deposited by the respective complainants along with delay compensation at nine percent per annum on the deposited amount from the respective dates of deposits till realisation, within a period of two months of this Order. Any delay beyond two months will attract an interest rate of 12 percent per annum for the same period,” it said.
The commission issued the order in three parts as different reliefs were sought by the homebuyers.
Dismissing another batch of complaints in the same case, the consumer court directed the builder to complete the construction of the units allotted to the buyers in all respects, obtain the requisite occupancy certificate at its own cost and responsibility and offer and give possession of the respective units within three months of the order along with a delay compensation at a rate of 8 percent from the proposed date of possession as per the respective agreements; this will include the grace period till the offer of possession or obtaining occupancy certificate, whichever is later.
The order said that if the builder failed to deliver the possession of the units within three months, it shall refund the deposited amount within four weeks after the end of two months with delay compensation at the rate of 9 percent simple interest per annum from the respective, dates of deposits till realization. Any delay beyond October 2022 will attract interest at the rate of 12 percent for the same period, it added.
For another batch of complaints where the buyers were seeking possession, the consumer court directed the builder to complete the construction of the units in all respects, duly obtaining the requisite occupancy certificate at its own cost and responsibility and offer and give possession of the respective units to the buyers within three months of the order along with delay compensation at the rate of 8 percent per annum from the proposed date of possession as per the respective agreements; this will include the grace period till the offer of possession or obtaining occupancy certificate, whichever is later.
As many as 30 homebuyers had filed a complaint under Section 21 read with Section 12 (1) (a) of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 against Raheja Developers Limited seeking the refund of the entire amount collected from them towards consideration of the units along with interest on the ground of delay in construction of the project. Some of these homes were booked way back in 2012 and were to be delivered by 2016.
"Such orders bring out the helplessness of the distressed homebuyers who have not received deliveries of their homes even 10 years after making the bookings. Units that were to be delivered in 2016 are far from complete and for years the builder has not made any attempts to even complete them. This is despite the fact that 90 percent payment has been made to the builder," said Aditya Parolia of PSP Legal, who represented the homebuyers in the matter.
The real estate company is planning to challenge the NCDRC order in a higher court.
A representative of the real estate firm told Moneycontrol that it has already paid Rs 51 crore EDC and Rs 21 crore IDC but the external infrastructure is not yet complete. In such a situation, "we cannot risk the lives of homebuyers by giving them possession. The project is almost ready and we request the state government to complete the infrastructure so that possession can be given," the representative said.
At the time of selling the flats, the application form and the agreement had stated that the project will be delivered only after the government has provided external infrastructure such as roads, water supply, sewerage lines, etc and buyers are aware of this clause.
This is the tallest tower in Gurgaon and in Haryana which has over 60 floors and "we cannot risk the lives of our customers by giving possessions without basic infrastructure. We request the government to expedite the infrastructure work so our customers do not suffer delay in delivery.
Also, we will challenge the NCDRC order in a higher court," the representative said.
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