A home buyer cancelled his booking, post which the builder sold the apartment. The home buyer approached MahaRERA asking for interest as builder earned profit, read what MahaRERA said
By Varun Singh
A home buyer approached MahaRERA with an interesting plea. The home buyer had booked an apartment in the project Hi Life.
The buyer then cancelled the booking, after the builder hiked the price. The builder then sold the apartment at a higher price.
Buyer stated that builder earned profit by selling the flat to another buyer at higher price. Hence, he sought interest on the money paid by him to the builder.
The case pertains to a Pune project where a home buyer, approached, MahaRERA against, the developer of project Hi Life at Thergaon Pune.
The complainant according to the complaint, had booked the flat for Rs 53.07 lakh plus 12% GST on August 23, 2018. He even paid Rs 2 lakh token amount and Rs 3.48 lakh for stamp duty and registration.
Thereafter the builder sent an email on January 18, 2019 to the buyer stating that the price was revised and the flat now cost Rs 54.94 lakh plus 8% GST.
According to the complaint, since the developer increased the cost of the flat, the complainant cancelled the booking and money was refunded.
But as the developer made profits as he sold the flat at a higher cost. Hence, the complainant sought interest on the money he paid to the builder.
The builder in his plea stated that, the complainant had no locus standi as he cancelled the booking in March 2019. Post which the entire amount was paid back to the buyer, and asked for dismissal of the complaint, as he wasn’t an allottee.
However, MahaRERA maintained the complaint as it was filed in February 2019, which is before cancellation of the booking, when he was an allottee.
Dr Vijay Satbir Singh, Member-1, MahaRERA, stated that under section 18(1) of RERA, a builder has to refund the amount along with interest, to allottee on demand, if the date of possession gets lapsed,
In this case, Singh found no agreement of sale or allotment letter with a date of possession. Thus he pointed out that the claim of the buyer seeking interest cannot be considered under section 18 of RERA.
Singh stated that MahaRERA couldn’t find any merit in the complaint and hence dismissed it for want of merits.
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