Mumbai: Prepone possession date by 3 years, RERA tells developer

Mumbai: A home buyer who approached Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority with a complaint pertaining to unreasonable possession date, got relief after the bench ordered the developer to prepone possession date of the project by three years from 2021 to 2018, failing which the developer would be liable to pay the interest rate, till the actual date of possession.

Complainant Ankush Dewan approached the RERA bench with the complaint against developer Bhoomi and Arcade Associates. Dewan had purchased an apartment in the project named ‘Acropolis-2’ located at Virar through a signed agreement dated December 23, 2015, and the date of possession given by the developer was March 31, 2016.The complainant alleged that the developer had failed to hand over the said apartment till the date of possession. “We request the authority to direct the developer to pay the interest amount for delay,” said Dewan.

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The developer was represented by Advocate Abir Patel who explained that the delay in handing over possession of the said apartment was due to mitigating circumstances, which were beyond the developer’s control. He also added that the extension time was mentioned in the agreement of sale. “The developer is in the position to hand over the apartment to the complainant in the coming six to eight months,” said Patel.After hearing both parties, the RERA bench observed that the developer had put December 2021 as the revised proposed date of completion, which is unreasonable.“As per provisions of Rule 4 of Maharashtra Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (Registration of Real Estate Projects, Registration of Real Estate Agents, Rates of Interest and Disclosures on Website) Rules, 2017, the revised date of possession for an ongoing project has to be commensurate with the extent of balance development,” stated the order.

The RERA bench directed the developer to handover possession of the said apartment to the complainant before the period ending May 2018 along with an Occupational Certificate, failing which the developer would be liable to pay interest to the complainant from June 01, 2018 till the actual date of possession.“The said interest would be as prescribed under Rule 18 of the Maharashtra Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (Registration of Real Estate Projects, Registration of Real Estate Agents, Rate of Interest and Disclosures on Website) Rules, 2017,” stated the order.