Supertech directed to refund Rs1.08 crore to Noida homebuyer

The national consumer disputes redressal commission (NCDRC) has directed realty firm Supertech to refund Rs1.08 crore to a buyer, after the commission found that the builder had failed to give possession of a flat to an allottee after over two years of the scheduled date of delivery.

While Supertech Limited had claimed that possession will be given by 2021, the NCDRC ordered for a refund as the complainant in the case did not want to wait further for the delivery.

The complainant, Chandan Gupta, had booked a residential flat with Supertech’s ORB Towers, which the builder was to develop in Sector 74, Noida.

The residential unit was allotted to Gupta for Rs2.36 crores in December, 2013. According to the allotment letter, possession was to be delivered by June, 2016 or latest by December, 2016.

Gupta claimed that he had paid Rs1.08 crore to Supertech even as the firm had not completed the project.

The builder, in its written reply to the commission, had blamed a farmers’ agitation for the delay.

The builder had also submitted that it had not abandoned the project. The firm had claimed that construction was in progress and that possession would be given soon after its completion. Supertech had argued that the complainant, hence, should not be given a refund and should be told to wait till construction was complete, after which the possession would be offered to him.

Supertech’s counsel had also told the commission that they had already committed to Uttar Pradesh real estate regular authority that they would complete the project by July, 2021.

The NCDRC, however, did not find merit in the builder’s contention and observed that there was no certainty as to when the project would be completed.

“The complainant stated he was not willing to wait anymore and wanted a refund of the amount paid. The NCDRC, on May 1, ordered the builder to pay the deposited amount of Rs1.08 crore to the complainant along with compensation in the form of simple interest at the rate of 10% per annum, from the date of each payment till the date of refund. The builder was also directed to pay Rs25,000 as cost of litigation to the complainant,” advocate Vishal Dabas, representing the complainant, said Tuesday.

A Supertech spokesperson that the order will be challenged in a court of law having jurisdiction in the matter

According to the NCDRC’s website, “any person aggrieved by an order of the NCDRC may prefer an appeal against such order to the Supreme Court of India within a period of 30 days.”

First Published: May 12, 2019 01:36 IST