DELAY IN PROVIDING POSSESSION... RERA asks developer to pay compensation

The project has three wings and consists of 16 floors. The developer had received the permission up to 10th floor only in the year 2011

In a huge relief to an allottee, Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) directed a developer to pay compensation for delay in providing possession of a flat. The authority acted on the complaint by an allottee for delayed possession by five years.

The complainant, Sher Balbir Singh, had purchased a flat in the developer ‘Ravi Developments’ project Gaurav Valley at Mira Road (east) after executing the sale of agreement on July 2, 2011.

The developer had initially offered him the possession of the said flat in July 2, 2013.

The said building has three wings and it consists of at least 16 floors and the developer had received the permission up to 10th floor only in the year 2011.

“The concerned planning authority, Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation, demolished six upper floors of the building which also included my flat in 2013,” said Singh.

The building is under construction since then and the complainant prayed for early possession of his flat and compensation for the delay.

The RERA authority found that in the agreement signed, the date of possession was kept blank. In January 2013, the possession letter issued to the developer reads that the flat was ready on the said date. However, the developer was unable to provide possession due to the above stated reasons and gave the date of possession as December 31, 2018.

“The complainant who is an allottee in the developer’s project cannot be forced to go haywire at the whims and convenience of the developer. lt is not the fact that the allottee has articulately avoided his payment schedule and has created a dent in the project of the developer as it is evident that the developer had offered possession in 2013 itself,” stated the order.

According to Sec 18 (i) of the RERA Act, if the promoter fails to complete a project or unable to give possession of an apartment, plot or building, the allottee shall be paid interest for the period of delay in handing over the possession at a rate as may be prescribed.

“The authority, thereby, directed the developer to handover compensation amount to the allottee for delay in providing possession of flat since 2013,” stated the order.