Summary of this article
Consumer commission orders builders to refund Rs 1.5 crore with interest.
Flat sold to another buyer despite receiving full payment.
Couple awarded compensation for harassment, mental agony and legal costs.
The Maharashtra Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed two builder firms and their promoters to refund Rs 1.5 crore with interest to a couple after failing to hand over a flat for which full payment had been made and subsequently selling it to another person.
In its order passed last week, the commission observed that the couple suffered a prolonged ordeal of more than a decade after investing their savings in a housing project in Mumbai.
Couple Paid Full Amount For Flat
According to the complaint, the husband worked as an accountant with a Kuwait-based company, while his wife was a teacher at a junior college in Raigad district.
The couple initially paid Rs 40 lakh in 2013 to book a flat in the builder's Dongri project. The builders had promised to complete the project within 36 months. However, construction did not begin within the committed period.
The complainants alleged that the builders later persuaded them to shift their investment to another project, Bay View, located in Mazgaon. The couple agreed and paid the entire sale consideration of Rs 90 lakh by September 2018.
They later discovered that the flat allotted to them had already been sold to a third party.
Refund Not Fulfilled
After the issue came to light, the builders offered to return the money. However, the complainants claimed that several cheques issued by the builders were bounced due to insufficient funds.
In June 2021, both parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which the builders acknowledged a liability of Rs 1.25 crore. While Rs 20 lakh was paid in 2023, the remaining amount was unpaid, resulting in the couple approaching the consumer commission.
The case was decided ex parte after the respondents failed to file their response before the commission.
Commission Finds Deficiency In Service
The commission has held that the builders had engaged in unfair trade practices and were guilty of deficiency in service.
It was observed that the complainants had been deprived of their savings and faced repeated assurances that were never fulfilled. The commission also noted that the couple had travelled more than 150 km from Mangaon to Mumbai on several occasions while pursuing the matter.
The commission has directed the builders to refund Rs 1.5 crore along with interest at 10 per cent per annum from June 2021 until payment. It also awarded Rs 50,000 as compensation for mental agony, physical harassment and financial distress, and Rs 25,000 towards litigation costs.
Commission Finds Deficiency In Service
The commission has held that the builders had engaged in unfair trade practices and were guilty of deficiency in service.
It was observed that the complainants had been deprived of their savings and faced repeated assurances that were never fulfilled. The commission also noted that the couple had travelled more than 150 km from Mangaon to Mumbai on several occasions while pursuing the matter.
The commission has directed the builders to refund Rs 1.5 crore along with interest at 10 per cent per annum from June 2021 until payment. It also awarded Rs 50,000 as compensation for mental agony, physical harassment and financial distress, and Rs 25,000 towards litigation costs.
