Gurugram: Forum orders refund for buyer, says VP Spaces can’t deduct penalties for default
GURUGRAM: The district consumer forum has fined a developer Rs 2 lakh for failing to complete a
project within the deadline and directed it to refund the amount collected from buyers with interest.
The commission termed the builder-buyer agreement “one-sided”, “unilateral” and “unequal” and
restrained the developer from making deductions or imposing a penal interest while making the refunds.
It also observed that no allottee could be compelled to keep on making payments of instalments if
construction at a site is not completed within schedule.
The forum was hearing a case filed by Sector 14 residents Kavita and Ashish Aggarwal. The couple
booked a 1,053 sqft flat in a residential project of VP Spaces Private Limited in Sector 56 of Bhiwadi
in Rajasthan for Rs 34.6 lakh in 2016. The flat was supposed to be delivered by October 2019.
The couple took a home loan from a bank, which was supposed to release the funds to the developer in
keeping with the construction-linked plan. “The builder and the bank, in connivance with each other,
released the loan amount even when there was no construction at the site, forcing the couple to pay the
EMI,” Razia Ahmad, the counsel for the couple, said.
They approached the forum in November 2022 over a demand notice of Rs 8.4 lakh in October 2019 that
the developer issued.
The commission observed that despite repeated notices, the developer and the bank failed to appear
before it to present their side. Sanjeev Jindal, president of the district consumer forum in Gurgaon, in his
order dated July 12, observed that the opposite parties did not produce any evidence against the charges
levelled against them and the evidence produced by the complainant goes “unrebutted”.
“It goes undisputed that the developer had not completed the construction of the apartment unit in
question in utter violation of the terms and conditions, especially in violation of the terms which says the
apartment was to be delivered in 42 months,” it observed.
“…The complainants were well within their rights to stop the payment of the further instalments and to
seek a refund of their deposited amount. No allottee (homebuyer) could be compelled to keep on making
the payment of instalments without the completion of the construction at the site,” the forum said.
The forum directed the developer to refund Rs 28 lakh deposited by the complainant along with an
interest of 9% per annum.
In addition, the complainant will be paid Rs 2 lakh for harassment and Rs 55,000 as litigation expenses, it
ruled. The developer was directed to complete the refund and payment of compensation within 45 days
from the order or pay interest at an escalated 12%.
Read more at :
Categories: News
