60 LAKHS SLAPPED TO BUILDER FOR DELAY

There are numerous complaints from the buyers about the delayed possession when flats are not delivered in tine as documented. What do Builders do when flats are not handed over in time?
It is a long ending tussle between Builders and home buyers that never seems to end delivering projects on time. There are umpteen cases where Builders have taken extra time to finish projects while leaving home buyers to suffer fiscal setbacks.

Imagine a situation where you have booked a posh flat in an apartment complex while paying hefty EMIs and also the rent for the temporary place that you currently occupy. Any delay in getting into your own house obviously means a financial loss.

There are property buyers who say his/her flat’s possession has been delayed by six months or may be more. Even those of reputed Builders’ projects get delayed unexpectedly. The properties buyers are the now considered consumers and finally have got a voice and a forum to air their grievances. Using Consumer Courts, buyers have been able to get back their money with interest or have been financially compensated besides allotment of flats by the sloppy Builders.

One such case has been narrated hereunder, for the information of our beloved readers.

The State Consumer Commission has ordered a Builder to either hand over possession of a ready flat in Kalyan to a couple who had booked it five years ago, or pay them Rs. 60 lakh, the flat’s current market value.

The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also directed the builder, Padma Constructions, to pay Rs. 3 lakh to Anant Leetkar and his wife Manjusha as compensation for the “mental agony” and Rs. 30,000/- for the litigation expenses they had incurred.

The Consumer Commission which passed the order during the last week of September, 2013, has given the Builder 3 months to hand over the flat, failing which he will have to pay Rs. 60 lakh.

The couple had booked the 1,047 sq ft (carpet area) flat in Nisarg Anand Residency at Chikanghar in 2008, and the builder executed an agreement for sale after they paid the entire flat cost of Rs18.9 lakh. As per the Sale Agreement, Padma Constructions was to hand over the flat within 18 months from the date of the Sale Agreement i.e. by September 2010.

The Leetkars approached the Consumer Commission after the Builder made no move to handover them the flat they had paid for.

Padma Constructions admitted to the booking of the flat and execution of Sale Agreement, but said the project got delayed because of disputes between Partners of the Firm.

It expressed willingness to hand over the flat to the couple after getting requisite permissions from the Local Town Planning Authority. The Consumer Commission ruled it was a case of Deficiency in Service.  The builder admitted to the booking of the flat and receipt of entire amount of consideration.

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