RERA advances date of possession by a year

If the home-buyer doesn’t get a ready flat by 2020, then the developer will be liable to pay interest for the delay

A home-buyer who approached Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) with a complaint related to unreasonable possession date, got a relief after the bench ordered the developer to prepone the possession date by a year. The RERA bench preponed the date of possession from 2021 to 2020, failing which the developer would be liable to pay interest for delay.

The Complainant Meenu Kapoor had purchased four apartments in the developer Monarch Solitaire LLP situated in Ulhasnagar through registered sale of agreement on April 25, 2014.

The Complainant alleged that the developer had failed to hand over possession of the said apartments till date. “Due to delay by the developer in handing over the possession, we intend to withdraw from the project as per the provisions of section 18 of the Real Estate Act,” said Kapoor.

The advocate for the developer argued that no date of possession could be mentioned in the said agreement due to uncertainties in the project.

“The construction work of the project could not be completed because of reasons which were beyond the developers control,” added the advocate.

The advocate also submitted that the construction work is currently in progress and possession of the said apartments would be handed over as per the timelines mentioned in their MahaRERA registration webpage.

The RERA bench observed that the developer had put December 31 2021 as the revised proposed date of completion which is an unreasonable time period for completion of the project, as per the provisions of Rule 4 of the Maharashtra Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (Registration of Real Estate Projects, Registration of Real Estate Agents, Rates of Interest and Disclosures on Website) Rules, 2017. The bench thereby stated that the developer must complete the construction work and handover apartments by December 31, 2019.

The advocate for the developer requested that the timeline for handing over possession of the said apartments, with Occupancy Certificate (OC) to be extended to March 31, 2020.

The Complainants also showed the willingness in continuing in the said proiect and accepted the revised timeline for delivery of possession of the said apartments. The RERA bench thereby directed the developer to handover the possession of the apartments with OC before the period of March 31, 2020, failing which the developer wouod be liable to pay interest to the complainant from April 1, 2020 till the actual date of possession. The said interest shall be at the rate as prescribed under Rule 18 of the Maharashtra Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (Registration of Real Estate Projects, Registration of Real Estate Agents, Rate of Interest and Disclosures on Website) Rules, 2017.

The Complainant had purchased four apartments in the developer Monarch Solitaire LLP situated in Ulhasnagar through registered sale of agreement on April 25, 2014. He alleged that the developer had failed to hand over possession of the said apartments till date