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Left in the lurch by builders, many buyers move consumer court: Here’s what the orders say

priya singh | 2023-11-05

A look at over 170 Delhi State Consumer Commission judgments till October this year relating to housing (where possession was either not handed over to buyers or was delayed despite buyers paying most of the price for the property) threw up some interesting details:
Imagine the mental agony you would face if you paid the full price for a product only to be left hanging for years, waiting for its delivery. This is the predicament faced by numerous home buyers in Delhi-NCR, like 40-year-old Saurabh Sharma. The software engineer hasn’t received possession of his flat even after 11 years of the stipulated time and has been fighting a case against the builder in the consumer court for seven years now.

In 2011, Saurabh had booked a 1,150 sqft flat in Ghaziabad priced at around Rs 31 lakh. “The project has been hanging fire for years. I had paid over 90% of the amount, and only the last installment was pending. After many years, the builder sent me a demand letter with exorbitant and unexplainable charges. I followed up but was told to pay it, otherwise, I would not get the flat,” he said.

Saurabh also said the builder was forcing him to take possession of the incomplete flat and on asking for the completion certificate, he misbehaved with him and his father. “In 2016, I approached the state consumer commission and have been waiting for justice ever since. Not just me, my whole family has suffered. My father was the one impacted the most… his health took a turn and he passed away last year, waiting for the flat,” he said.
A look at over 170 Delhi State Consumer Commission judgments till October this year relating to housing (where possession was either not handed over to buyers or was delayed despite buyers paying most of the price for the property) threw up some interesting details:
In most cases, buyers had paid over 95% of the amount. The total delay caused to buyers who complained in the consumer commission was a staggering 1,268 years and the total compensation granted to them was over Rs 37 crore.

– In 162 cases where there was delayed possession, The Indian Express found that the average delay was 8.62 years — ranging from 2 to 17 years.
The average compensation granted by the Commission to buyers was over Rs 25 lakh plus other costs including 6% interest for the delayed possession. The compensation ranged from Rs 2 lakh to over Rs 5 crore.

– In 51 cases, the compensation (excluding penalties and interest) given was up to Rs 10 lakh. In 47 cases, the compensation was from Rs 10 to 25 lakh. In another 34, it granted ranged from Rs 25 to 50 lakh. In just four cases, compensation granted ranged from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore. While in a total of 9 cases, compensation granted was over Rs 1 crore and just two cases saw compensation worth Rs 5 crore or more.
In 90% of the cases, the Consumer Commission ruled in favour of buyers who purchased houses/plots in Gurgaon, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, Sonipat, and Gautam Buddha Nagar among other locations. While developers Parsvnath and Taneja Developers and Infrastructure (TDI) topped the list of complaints filed, other developers facing complaints were BPTP, Avalon, Ansal, Ireo, Vatika, DLF, Omaxe and Raheja.