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Judgment
The complainants before this Commission are Allottees of residential flats in a project namely "Saraswati Apartments", which the opposite party namely M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. was to construct at NH-58, Duhai in Ghaziabad, (Raj Nagar) Uttar Pradesh. They executed agreements with the opposite party, incorporating their respective obligations. Clause 20 (a) of the said agreement deals with delivery of possession and reads as under:
"That the Developer shall complete the development/construction of the Flat within 24 months (+) from the date of signing of agreement or/and within an extended period of 3 months thereof. The completion date is subject to force majeure conditions and/or subject to any other reasons beyond the control of the Developer. No claim by way of damages/compensation shall lie against the Developer in case of delay in handing over the possession on account of any of the aforesaid reasons and the Developer shall be entitled to a reasonable extension of time for the delivery of possession of the said Flat to the Allottee."
Since the possession of the allotted flats was not offered to them and even the construction was not started within the period of 27 months from the date of the agreement, which included grace period of 3 months, the complainants approached this Commission under Section 12(1) (c) of the Consumer Protection Act by filing this complaint, on behalf or for the benefit of all such allottees of the referred project, who have identical grievance against the opposite party, on account of the possession of the allotted flat having not been delivered and even construction having not started. The following are the prayers made in the complaint:
Pass appropriate orders thereby directing the Opposite Party/Respondent Company i.e. M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. to deliver possession to all the Buyers of their respective flats in the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. in fully habitable condition with all basic amenities made available to all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. without any further delay, preferably within three (3) months, and until delivery of such possession, to refrain from making and to forego any demands of money made against all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd; and
Pass appropriate orders thereby directing the Opposite Party/Respondent Company i.e. M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. to alternatively refund the entire amount with 24% rate of interest to all the Complaianants/Consumers/Buyers of their respective flats in the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd; and
Pass appropriate orders thereby directing the Opposite Party/Respondent Company i.e. M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. to compensate all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. fully and finally in accordance with the indicative terms and conditions as agreed between the parties in the builder and buyers agreement and to further adhere to the contents of the "Agreement Letter" executed with all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd; and
Pass appropriate orders thereby directing the Opposite Party/Respondent Company i.e. M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. to compensate all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. of all the interest amounts paid by all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. on account of the delay committed by the Opposite Party/Respondent Company in delivering possession of the respective flats/apartments/dwelling units to all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. in accordance with the indicative terms and conditions of the "Agreement Letter" executed with all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. alongwith interest accrued thereon at the rate of 18 % per annum calculated from the date of expiry of 24 months from the date of issuance "Agreement Letter" till the actual possession; and
Pass appropriate orders thereby directing the Opposite Party/Respondent Company i.e. M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. to pay compensation to all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. on account of causing mental harassment, pain and agony inflicted upon all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments"of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs only) per complainant due to the deficiency in service committed by the Opposite Party/Respondent Company by failing to deliver possession of the allotted flats to all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. in proper and habitable condition as per the indicative terms and conditions of the "Agreement Letter" executed with all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd; and
Pass appropriate orders thereby directing the Opposite Party/Respondent Company i.e M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. to pay compensation to all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. on account of unfair trade practices adopted by the Respondent Company of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs only) per Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. due to the illegal demands of money raised by the Opposite Party/Respondent Company despite failing to deliver possession of the allotted flat to all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh developed by M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. in proper and habitable condition by blatant departure from the indicative terms and conditions of the "Agreement Letter"executed with all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh; and
Pass appropriate order directing the Opposite Party No.2 (Bank) not to raise/claim any Equated Monthly Instalments from all the Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh till the disposal of the case; and
Direct the Opposite Party/Respondent Company i.e. M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. to pay the litigation cost of Rs.50,000/- per Complainants/Consumers/Buyers of the project "Saraswati Apartments" a residential project at NH-58, Duhai, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh; and
Pass any other and/or further order(s) that this Hon'ble Commission deems fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the present class Complaint/Petition.
(2) Though the complaint was instituted against M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. as well as Corporation Bank. It was admitted only against the builder.
(3) After grant of permission in terms of Section 12(1) (c) of the Consumer Protection Act, vide order dated 06.12.2017 public notice in terms of Section 13 (6) of the Consumer Protection Act read with Order-1, Rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure was published in the newspapers. Consequent to publication of the notice, as many as 32 buyers have been impleaded as parties to this complaint and are represented by a counsel. They claim to have a common grievance against the opposite party and also claim to be interested in the reliefs sought against the builder.
(4) The opposite party did not appear even after service and its right to file its written version was closed vide order dated 06.12.2017 read with the subsequent order dated 26.09.2018. The allottees have filed their respective affidavits by way of evidence. I have heard the learned counsel for the complainants and other allottees and have considered the record.
(5) It is informed during the course of hearing that all the allottees have executed identical agreements with the opposite party namely M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. though the agreements were executed on different dates. It is also informed that more than 27 months have already passed from the date on which the agreements were executed. It also transpires during the course of arguments that not to talk of complying the construction, the opposite party has not even started the construction of the allotted flats and this project has not even by approved by the Ghaziabad Development Authority. It is also informed that several criminal cases have also been instituted against the Director of the Company.
(6) It is thus evident that the opposite party namely M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. has been deficient in rendering services to the allottees of the above project. It has not even started construction of the allotted flats.
(7) The learned counsel appearing for the complainants and other allottees submits that since the construction has not even started none of the allottees is interested in waiting any more for the possession of the flats and all of them want refund of the amount paid by them to the builder alongwith appropriate compensation. They also state that the allottees will be satisfied if the builder is directed to refund the principal amount paid by them to the builder alongwith compensation in the form of simple interest @ 10 % per annum from the date of each payment till the date of refund.
(8) The complaint is, therefore, disposed of with the following directions :
The opposite party namely M/s Bliss Infratech Pvt. Ltd. shall refund the entire principal amount received by it from such allottees of the project namely "Saraswati Apartments", who are interested in taking refund of the amount paid by them alongwith compensation.
The opposite party shall pay compensation to all such allottees, in the form of simple interest @ 10% per annum from the date of each payment till the date of refund to all such allottees.
The opposite party shall upload this Order on its website for the benefit of the allottees of the above referred project, within three weeks from today.
The payment in terms of this order shall be made within three months from today.
The opposite party shall also pay a sum of Rs.15,000/- as the cost of litigation which shall be divided equally amongst the complainants and other allottees who have approached this Commission.