Housing society flat delay: Full refund for buyers
Delay in possession: How 2 homebuyers got the refund with interest No possession even after 16 years: How homebuyers won case against housing society Ghaziabad
Delay in possession: How 2 homebuyers got the refund with interest No possession even after 16 years: How homebuyers won case against housing society Ghaziabad housing society delay in possession: What did the commission rule? In 2010, two office colleagues from Delhi-NCR applied for 3BHK flats in a residential property project planned by a cooperative housing society in Noida. For this, they even became members of the housing society. The housing society had promised them possession of flats by 2012. Almost 16 years later, they are still awaiting delivery of flats to date.During this period, the homebuyers claimed that they continued to pay lakhs in home loan EMIs (equated monthly instalments) and additional amounts demanded by the society, which allegedly kept revising and escalating the cost of the flats by imposing additional charges, such as parking fees, goods and services tax (GST), and service tax. Against the originally agreed prices of Rs 24,00,000 for homebuyer 1 and Rs 26,60,300 for homebuyer 2, they ended up paying Rs 39,08,865 and Rs 40,34,234, respectively.After years of waiting for possession, the two homebuyers finally approached the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in March 2024, seeking relief. The commission recently ruled in their favour, ordering the housing society to refund their money with interest, along with compensation for mental agonies and litigation costs.The case dates back to 2010 when the two homebuyers made bookings for 3BHK flats in a housing society project initially proposed in Noida.
They were promised the possession of the flats in two years. However, the society shifted the project to Ghaziabad following alleged disputes over the land.Consequently, the buyers paid more money due to revised costs and new agreements made in 2013. The housing society revised the cost of the flats for both the complainants (homebuyer 1 and 2) in the new project to Rs 28,78,200. However, despite repeated assurances of timely completion, the society allegedly continued to delay the project while repeatedly increasing the cost of the flats.According to the submission by both the complainants (homebuyers), the society made the additional demands under various heads like parking charges, escalation cost, GST, service tax, mechanical ventilation charges, smoke detector charges, and other miscellaneous charges. This compelled the homebuyers to avail additional and top-up loans in 2018.According to the submission, both homebuyers received their allotment letters in June 2019, nearly six years after the execution of the new agreement. Still, no flats have been handed over to them till now. Both homebuyers have already made payments of Rs 39,08,865 and Rs 40,34,234, respectively, to date.The commission noted that the housing society continued extending the project completion date, while simultaneously raising additional demands under different heads, thereby increasing the financial burden upon the homebuyers.“It is also evident that while the complainants duly fulfilled their obligations by making payments as demanded and by availing loan facilities for the said purpose, the Opposite Party (the housing society) failed to fulfil its obligation of delivering possession of the flats within a reasonable period of 42-48 months from the date of the agreements,” the commission said.Observing that a cooperative housing society can be treated as a “service provider” under the law, a bench comprising Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal and Bimla Kumari held the society guilty of deficiency in service.
The BriefWire