JUSTICE V.K. JAIN, PRESIDING MEMBER (ORAL) 1. In CC No. 311 of 2017, the complainants namely Pramod Kumar and Smt. Anita Sinha booked a residential flat with the OP in a project namely ‘Unitech Verve, which the OP was to develop in Greater Noida. Vide allotment letter dated 01.02.2007, Apartment No.803 in Tower-1 of the aforesaid project was allotted to the complainant, subject to the terms and conditions annexed thereto, for a total consideration of Rs.54,87,391/-. 2. As per clause 4(a)(i) of the terms and conditions of the allotment, the possession was to be delivered within 36 months of the said letter, meaning thereby that the possession ought to have been delivered by 01.02.2010. The grievance of the complainants is that the possession of the flat has not been delivered to them despite they having already paid a sum of Rs.52,48,261/- to the OP. The complainants are therefore, before this Commission, seeking refund of the aforesaid amount alongwith compensation etc. 3. In CC No. 312 of 2017, the complainants namely Manish Wadhia and Smt. Viney Wadhia booked a residential flat with the OP in the same project namely ‘Unitech Verve, which the OP was to develop in Greater Noida and Apartment No. 902 in Tower-2 of the project was allotted to them vide allotment letter dated 08.02.2007, as per the terms and conditions attached to the said letter, for a total consideration of Rs.61,21,681/-. As per clause 4(a)(i) of the terms and conditions of the allotment, the possession was to be delivered within 36 months thereof, meaning thereby that the possession ought to have been delivered by 08.02.2010. The possession however, has not been delivered to the complainants despite they having already paid Rs.58,51,653/- to the OP. Therefore, they are also before this Commission seeking refund of the aforesaid amount alongwith compensation etc. 4. In CC No. 313 of 2017, the complainants namely Anindya Gaine and Smt. Aarti Gaine booked a residential flat with the OP in the same project, which the OP was to develop in Greater Noida and vide allotment letter dated 10.01.2007, Apartment No. 702 in Tower-3 of the aforesaid project was allotted to them on the terms and conditions annexed to the allotment letter, for a total consideration of Rs.53,75,546/-. As per the clause 4(a)(i) of the terms and conditions of the allotment, the possession was to be delivered within 36 months of the said letter, meaning thereby that the possession ought to have been delivered by 10.01.2010. Their grievance is that the possession of the flat has not even been offered to them despite they having already paid a sum of Rs.51,37,700/- to the OP. They are also before this Commission, seeking refund of the aforesaid amount alongwith compensation etc. 5. In CC No. 314 of 2017, the complainant namely Sumit Dawar initially booked a residential flat with the OP in a project namely ‘Uniworld City, which the OP was to develop in Greater Noida but later on, he shifted to the project namely ‘Unitech Verve’ which the OP was to develop in Greater Noida. He submitted an application for provisional allotment of a residential apartment in ‘Unitech Verve’. A copy of the said application is Annexure C-3 to the complaint. The general terms and conditions for registration of allotment of apartment in ‘Unitech Verve’ are annexed to the said application. As per clause 10 of the aforesaid general terms & conditions, the possession of the apartment was to be delivered by 36 months. Clause 12 of the aforesaid general terms and conditions provided that if for any reason, the company was not in a position to apartment applied for, the company shall be responsible only to consider allotment of an alternative property or refund the amount deposited by the allottee(s) alongwith simple interest @ 10% per annum. However, the company shall not be liable for any other damages/compensation on this account. Vide provisional allotment letter dated 10.06.2011, flat no. 05-02-0203 in the aforesaid project was allotted to the complainants for a consideration of Rs.57,87,775/-. Considered from the date of allotment, the aforesaid apartment was to be delivered by 10.06.2014. The case of the complainant is that the possession has not even been offered to him despite he having already paid a sum of Rs.59,41,126/- to the OP. The complainant is therefore, before this Commission seeking refund of the aforesaid amount alongwith compensation etc. 6. In CC No. 315 of 2017, the complainants namely Smt. Kiran Sawhney booked a residential flat with the OP in the same project, which the OP was to develop in Greater Noida and vide allotment letter dated 08.02.2007, Apartment No. 1501 on the 14th Floor of Tower-1 was allotted to her, as per the terms and conditions annexed thereto, for a consideration of Rs.62,19,000/-. As per clause 4(a)(i) of the terms and conditions of the allotment, the possession was to be delivered within 36 months of the said letter, meaning thereby that the possession ought to have been delivered by 08.02.2010. According to the complainant, the possession has not even been offered to her despite she having already paid a sum of Rs.59,44,447/- to the OP. The complainant is therefore, before this Commission, seeking refund of the aforesaid amount alongwith compensation etc. 7. In CC No. 316 of 2017, the complainants namely Ruchika Mittal, Parveen Bansal and Deepak Bansal booked a residential flat with the OP in the same project, which the OP was to develop in Greater Noida and vide allotment letter dated 06.04.2007, Apartment No.202 in Tower-4 of the aforesaid project was allotted to them, subject to the terms and conditions annexed thereto, for a total consideration of Rs.54,73,972/-. In their case also, the possession was to be delivered within three years in terms of clause 4(a)(i) of the terms and conditions of the allotment. The possession therefore, ought to have been delivered by 06.04.2010. Their case is that the possession of the flat has not been delivered to them despite they having already paid a sum of Rs.52,02,307/- to the OP. They are also before this Commission, seeking refund of the aforesaid amount alongwith compensation etc. 8. The OP did not file its written version despite service therefore, its right to file the written version was closed vide order dated 30.08.2017. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have considered the affidavits by way of evidence filed by the complainants. 9. The learned counsel for the complainants submits that though written version has not been filed by the OP in these cases, several other contested consumer complaints in respect of allotments made in respect of this very project have already been allowed by this Commission. Reliance in this regard is placed inter-alia upon CC No. 977 of 2015, Neha Suri Vs. M/s. Unitech Reliable Project Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. decided on 04.01.2017 and CC No.1487 of 2016, Kiran Aggarwal Vs. Authorized Signatory, Unitech Reliable Projects Pvt. Ltd. decided on 31.08.2017. 10. The learned counsel for the complainants states that in order to avoid any possible further litigation and also considering the recent downtrend in the rates of interest and the erosion in the values of real estate in the market, he has instructions from the complainants to restrict their claim to the refund of the entire principal amount paid by them alongwith compensation in the form of simple interest @ 10% per annum as per the terms and conditions of allotment. A reliance in this regard is placed upon clause 4.e. of the terms and conditions of the allotments which reads as under: “4.e Default: If for any reason the Developer is not in a position to offer the Apartment altogether, the Developer shall offer the Allottee(s) an alternative property or refund the amount in full with Simple Interest @ 10% per annum without any further liability to pay damages or any other compensation on this account. 11. For the reasons stated hereinabove, the complaints are disposed of with the following directions: (i) In CC No. 311 of 2017, the OP shall refund the entire principal amount of Rs.52,48,261/- to the complainants, alongwith compensation in the form of simple interest @ 10% per annum from the date of each payment till the date of refund with compensation in terms of this order. (ii) In CC No. 312 of 2017, the OP shall refund the entire principal amount of Rs.58,51,653/- to the complainants, alongwith compensation in the form of simple interest @ 10% per annum from the date of each payment till the date of refund with compensation in terms of this order. (iii) In CC No. 313 of 2017, the OP shall refund the entire principal amount of Rs.51,37,700/- to the complainants, alongwith compensation in the form of simple interest @ 10% per annum from the date of each payment till the date of refund with compensation in terms of this order. (iv) In CC No. 314 of 2017, the OP shall refund the entire principal amount of Rs.59,41,126/- to the complainant, alongwith compensation in the form of simple interest @ 10% per annum from the date of each payment till the date of refund with compensation in terms of this order. (v) In CC No. 315 of 2017, the OP shall refund the entire principal amount of Rs.59,44,447/- to the complainant, alongwith compensation in the form of simple interest @ 10% per annum from the date of each payment till the date of refund with compensation in terms of this order. (vi) In CC No. 316 of 2017, the OP shall refund the entire principal amount of Rs.52,02,307/- to the complainants, alongwith compensation in the form of simple interest @ 10% per annum from the date of each payment till the date of refund with compensation in terms of this order. (vii) The OP shall also pay a sum of Rs.25,000/- as the cost of litigation in each matter. (viii) The payments in terms of this order shall be made within three months from today. |
