Compensate flats allottee for cancellation, Sion builder told

Ambili Swamy must feel like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. The district consumer forum has directed a city-based builder to pay her Rs15,000 as compensation for the mental agony she suffered, besides the payments she made for the flats she booked, which were later cancelled.
A bench comprising acting president S B Dhumal and Bhavna Pisal also directed builder Dinesh Ghadge, the proprietor of Luxury Builders and Developers, to pay her an 18% interest on her down payment.
According to a complaint filed by Swamy, she had booked two flats in 2005, at a down payment of Rs25,000 each, in a building undergoing construction in Sion Koliwada. Ghadge had promised to hand them over to her a year later.
Swamy then made several payments, totalling Rs3,14,400. She hoped to pay the rest - Rs9,92,335 - with a bank loan. But since the builder did not register the sale of the flats with Swamy, she could not ask for a loan. Meanwhile, due to non-payment of the remaining amount, Ghadge cancelled the allotment of the two flats. Thereafter, Swamy moved the forum, seeking re-allotment of the flats.
In reply to the complaint, the builder said he had sent several notices on non-payment to Swamy, but the correspondence returned as she had changed her residence. He alleged that he took the decision to cancel the allotment when Swamy did not contact him for three years. On failing to register the flats with Swamy, he clarified that as per law, the complainant had to pay the stamp duty first before getting the purchase deed registered, which was not done.
The forum, after going through the case details, concluded that Ghadge had erred in giving possession of the flats in time to the purchaser. It, however, ruled out re-allotment of the flats as a third party had bought them after the cancellation. Besides, the bench noted, the builder should have sent a demand notice to Swamy when he got to know of the changed residential address. But since he failed to do so, the complainant could not make the rest of the payments. The forum, therefore, held that Swamy is liable to receive compensation and directed Ghadge to return the Rs3,14,400 paid, along with Rs10,000 incurred as litigation charges.