A district consumer commission in three different orders has directed a developer firm to pay more than Rs60 lakh with 18 per cent interest per annum, to people based in Sion Koliwada who had sought to buy flats and shops in the developer’s project in Raigad district.
The compensation includes the loan, pre-EMI, EMI, insurance, interest on loan, stamp duty, registration, and service tax that the buyers have paid. The firm has also been directed to pay Rs2.65 lakh towards litigation cost and mental agony suffered by the buyers for not getting the flats and shops.
The three orders dated September 16 and uploaded on December 23 have been passed by Mr SS Mhatre, president, and Mr MP Kasar, member, of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Central Mumbai, on complaints by Sion Koliwada residents Sanket Ramnath Patil, Swapnil Ramnath Patil in the first case, Suvidha Ramnath Patil in the second case, and Ramesh Hiraji Khot and Reshma Ramesh Khot in the third case against M/s Marvel Life Spaces Ltd, Pankaj Shankarlal Bhanushali, Dinesh Shankarlal Bhanushali, and Mukesh Bhanushali. The orders of the commissin have to be complied with in 30 days.
The buyers had purchased flats and shops between 2016-17 for Rs59.30 lakh. A large part of the money was arranged through loans from IndiaBulls Housing Finance Ltd or form relatives. They buyers also paid insurance premium for the flats they purchased, for which additional loan was taken.
The people were promised that the flats would be handed over by June 2018. Marvel said it will give the flats in a year, which is the grace period defined in the agreement.
In December 2020, when the complainants found that the project was in the same condition as earlier, they decided to file a complaint. The buyers said the project was also taken over by SBI under the SARFAESI Act when Marvel defaulted and there were breaches. The complainants said the market rate of the properties they had bought had jumped to almost double of the total consideration when they had purchased the properties.
The commission observed that, according to the MOFA Act and the RERA Act, properties should have been handed over in the stipulated time. The builders did not do so and also failed to appear before the commission despite being served notices, it said. The statements of the complainants remained unchallenged, it pointed out. The panel alsosaid that there was deficiency in service and the builder had indulged in unfair trade practices.
The commission asked Marvel to pay the compensation within 30 days of the order being passed.
