Flat delay: Builder to pay buyers back with 9% annual interest
The NCDRC said there has been deficiency in service by the developer.
Failure to hand over a flat booked by two Santacruz residents has cost a developer dear, after the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) asked the developer to refund the entire amount received from the complainants along with ₹1.30 crore as interest.
M/s. Sun Vision Emerald, the developer, has been asked to refund ₹2.75 crore, the entire amount of the flat cost received from the purchaser, along with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from September 2014, when the amount was paid.
The NCDRC said there has been deficiency in service by the developer. Besides, the commission also asked the developer to pay complainants Nilesh Ghodsara and Dhimantrai Patel an additional ₹5 lakh as compensation and ₹50,000 towards litigation cost.
According to their complaint, in 2014, Ghodsara and Patel had booked a flat in redevelopment of Azad Nagar Co-operative Housing Society in Vile Parle for total consideration of ₹2.75 crore. In July 2014, they paid a booking amount of ₹50 lakh and the balance amount of ₹2.25 crore was paid in September 2014.
The developer had promised to deliver the flat in two years, but did not start construction work for a long time. In September 2016, when the complainants visited the site, they found construction work had not even begun. They approached the NCDRC accusing the developer of deficiency in service. Responding to their complaint, the developer admitted booking a flat, registration of agreement for sale and acceptance of consideration. However, the developer said they were not able to start construction due to reasons including change in government policies and financial as well as legal problems.
The NCDRC accepted evidence submitted by the complainants. “It stands proved that the opposite parties [the developer] have been deficient in providing service... The opposite parties have committed breach of the Agreement to Sell,” it said.