Builder fined Rs.20 Lakh for Delay (15-6-2010)

Builder fined Rs.20 Lakh for Delay

In an order that will cheer Property buyers, the Maharashtra State Consumer Commission recently
directed a developer to shell out Rs.20 lakh at the rate of Rs.2,000 a day for a delay in giving
possession of a shop premises to a purchaser.

The significane of the order passed by three-member bench comprising president S B Mhase, S R Khanzode
and D Dhamtkar is that is "among the first times" that a "per day" damage, as was specified in the
sale agreemnet, has been charged, according to lawyer Bindu Jain, The lawyer respresented the aggrieved
Party, Dharshi Dedhia.

Often, builders have an agreement clause that assures buyers a daily damage for delayed possession,
but few buyers, if any, invoke it, jain said. The lawyer said the judgment comes as a boost to purchases
of flats and other property across the state.

The commission said, "To issue notice for delivery of possession without anoccupation certificate
was an illegal act... We find that there is no ground to justify the delay."

Dedhia possessed a shop and godown in Rajhans building in Thane as a tenant.The original landlord
sold the premises to Padmavati Enterprises who decided to develop the property and agreed to give
a shop of 366 sq.ft to Dedhia at a subsidised rate.The agreement was made in June 2005 to hand over
possession in October 2005, but the possession was given in June 2007 without an occupation certificate.
As a result, Dedhia claimed damages for the delay Rs.2,000 per day as stipulated in the agreement.

Dedhia's other grievance was that a water connection wasn't given to him.He took up the matter with
the Thane district consumer forum, which ordered the builder to pay him Rs.20,000 as a compansation
for the "mental agony and financial loss"

- Times of India