Prepone possession date by four years, RERA orders developer

If it fails, the developer will be liable to pay interest rate till the actual date of possession

A complainant who approached MahaRERA (Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority) with a complaint pertaining to unreasonable possession date, got a relief after the bench ordered the developer to prepone the possession date of the project by four years. The RERA bench ordered for preponement of the possession date of the project from 2024 to 2020, failing which the developer would be liable to pay the interest rate till the actual date of possession.

The complainant Shreeram Chaurasia approached the RERA bench with the complaint against developer NHK Developers LLP. Chaurasia had purchased an apartment in the project named ‘Vastukalp Project’ situated in Bhandup (west) and signed an agreement dated August 10, 2014.

Chaurasia alleged that developer promised with the possession date of the said apartment within 2.5 years from the date of the agreement. “The developer has failed to provide us the possession till date. The revised date put out by the developer was December 31, 2014 in the MahaRERA registration. Hence, we do not wish to continue with the said project,” said Chaurasia. The complainant also demanded that the entire amount be paid to them by the developer with interest and compensation be refunded as per the provisions of section 18 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016.

The representative of the respondent, Bhavesh D Vora in his defense said no date of possession was mentioned in the said agreement. Vora also said that a fixed date of possession was never promised to the complainant due to risks involved in the redevelopment project. The RERA bench explained to the complainant that no relief for delay under section 18 cannot be granted to them as no specific date of possession was mentioned in the agreement registered between the parties. Chaurasia agreed to reconsider his decision regarding continuing in the project if a reasonable possession date is ordered.

The RERA bench said that revised possession date of December 2024 put out by the developer is unreasonable time period for completion of the project as the revised date has to be commensurate with the extend of balance development. This has been mentioned in the rule 4 of Maharashtra Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Registration of Real Estate Projects, Registration of ReaI state Agents, Rates of Interest and Disclosures on Website Rules,2017.

The bench ordered that the respondent must hand over the possession date of the said apartment with Occupancy Certificate to the complainant before the period ending December 31, 2020, failing which the respondent would be liable to pay interest to the complainant from January 1, 2021 till actual date of possession.

The complainant alleged that developer promised with the possession date of the said apartment within 2.5 years from the date of the agreement