- (1.)Heard Mr. Sushil Kaushik, Advocate, for the complainants and Mr. Vivek Kohli, Sr. Advocate assisted by Mr. Akash Yadav, Advocate, for the opposite party.
(2.)Initially 10 home buyers of the project "Avalon Rosewood" have filed above complaint, under Sec. 12(1)c) of Consumer Protection Act, 1986, for directing the opposite party to (i) refund the amounts collected from the buyers with interest @18% per annum from the date of respective deposit till the date of payment, (ii) pay Rs.30000.00 to each buyers, as costs of the litigation; and (iii) any other relief which is deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case. Permission under Sec. 12(1)c) of Consumer Protection Act, 1986, has been granted vide order dtd. 14/2/2019. After publication of notice, several other home buyers of the said project filed applications for their impleadment as the complainants, which were allowed time to time and at present there are 41 complainants.
(3.)The complainants stated that M/s. Avalon Projects (the opposite party) was a company, registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and engaged in the business of development and construction of group housing project and selling its unit to the prospective buyers. It was a unit of GRJ Distributors and Developers Pvt. Ltd. The opposite party launched a group housing project, in the name of "Avalon Rosewood" at Village Khanpur, Sector-16, Bhiwadi-Alwar Byepass Road, Tijara, District Alwar, Rajasthan, in the year 2013 and made wide publicity of its facilities and amenities. Believing upon the representations and promises of the opposite party, each complainant booked a 2BHK flat between January, 2013 to August, 2013 and deposited booking amount. The opposite party allotted one Unit of the size 1250 sq.ft. and one covered car parking space for Rs.3943750.00 to each of them and executed Apartment Buyer's Agreements in their favour between June, 2014 to January, 2015. It may be mentioned that some of the complainants were transferees from original allottees, with the permission of the opposite party. The opposite party assured them that time schedule for completion of construction would remain same as it was for original allottee. Annexure-III of Apartment Buyer's Agreement provides payment plan as "construction link payment plan" and "Down Payment Plan. Some of the complainants opted for "construction link payment plan" and paid the instalments regularly as per demand letters. Some of the complainants opted for "Down Payment Plan" and paid 95% of the consideration within 30 days of the booking. Clause-6.1 of the agreement provides 42 months period from the date of the agreement, for completing construction and grace period of six months. The period of 42 months expired in July, 2018, in all the cases but the opposite party did not offer possession. Some of the complainants visited the site and found that construction work was not of the stages, for which instalments were realized. Skeleton structure of partly constructed building was lying and no construction work was going on. The complainants had reason to believe that the opposite party was syphoning the fund of this project in their other project. Apartment Buyer's Agreement were one sided and arbitrary, inasmuch as the opposite party was charging interest @24% per annum for delayed payment, while clause-6.2 provides delayed compensation @Rs.3.00 per sq.ft. per month on super area. The complainants inquired from the office of the opposite party on telephone about time schedule for possession then the opposite party informed that it would be completed till end of 2021, without giving any cause for delay. Then the complaint was filed on 29/8/2018, alleging deficiency in service.