Builder fined Rs 4 lakh for flat handover delay

The suburban additional district consumer dispute redressal forum on Friday pulled up a Bhandup-based developer for failing to hand over a flat booked by a Vikhroli resident in 2004. The developer was also heavily penalised for not repaying the booking amount to the buyer when the project was shelved owing to a legal hurdle regarding the land.

Why was the complaint filed?
As per the complaint, Agnelo Coutinho had approached Muktinath Sharma, chairman and M D of M /S Sharma Realty and booked a two BHK flat. The total cost of the flat came to Rs 13 lakh, of which the complainant paid a booking amount of Rs 1,30,000. When the construction did not start for an entire year, Coutinho tried to get in touch with Sharma for an explanation, but could not reach the developer.
Coutinho said in his complaint that the developer after a period of time started a different new project on the same site and allegedly started selling flats to new buyers. That was when Coutinho approached the forum and filed a complaint in 2010.

The developer's stand
The forum after going through the complaint, asked the developer to file his reply. The developer claimed that the complainant was a false and frivolous one and that it was filed only with an intention to usurp more money. The developer also claimed that that he had run into a legal problem regarding the land, due to which the project had been delayed.

Forum questions delay in refunding booking amt
After going through arguments from both the parties, the forum maintained that there was no doubt that the developer had faced a legal hurdle, but questioned why he had not bothered to respond to the buyer's queries as to why there was a delay. The developer was also penalised for the tremendous delay in repaying the booking amount.

The penalties
The forum asked the developer to pay back the booking amount of Rs 1, 30,000, which the complainant had paid to the developer with a 10 per cent interest on the same from March 2004. The forum further directed the developer to pay an additional Rs 10 lakh to the complainant for the delay in paying back the booking amount, along with an additional amount of Rs 2, 83,000 towards mental agony and Rs 10,000 towards the complainant's litigation cost.