Flat purchasers take Mhada to court over 8-year delay

Nagpur: Alleging ‘unfair trade practices’ and ‘deficient services’ by the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (Mhada), 14 city-based flat owners have moved Delhi-based National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).

The consumers claim Mhada constructed 320 flats in its ‘Mhada City’ project on Subhash Road. Even after taking Rs45 lakh from prospective owners individually, it failed to give possession and sale deed of the flats till date. They claimed that the housing authority collected Rs128 crore from 320 consumers, but did nothing to hand over the flats to them over last eight years.

NCDRC judge Deepa Sharma allowed the complainants, Mahesh Jain and 13 others, to file a joint consumer complaint on behalf of all 320 allottees in the project under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, and directed Mhada to file a reply within a month.

While directing the complainants to publish a public notice of their complaint in local newspapers, NCDRC treated their application as a joint complaint and kept it for hearing on April 25, 2019.

Through counsel Tushar Mandlekar, the complainants claimed that Mhada failed to provide occupancy and building completion certificates along with environment clearance and NMC Fire Department’s no-objection certificate (NOC), even eight years after the scheme’s inception. They further blamed the authority for not providing amenities like podium garden, internal roads, shopping centre, club house and swimming pool, which were promised to them while selling the flats.

Jain and other consumers, including Satish and Nitin Sarada, Aarti Kimmatkar, Anuj Chopde, Ramesh Modi, Balakhidas Kalantri, Gokuldas Fafat, Amrut and Amar Damle, Anand Gupta, and Sunil Maheshwari pointed out that Mhada and its contractor IVRCL have failed to provide possession and sale deed in two years, and also after three more years were granted to them, which caused massive losses to the purchasers.

They prayed for individual compensation of Rs42 lakh each, which includes 16% per annum interest on their payment (Rs45 lakh) along with Rs5 lakh for mental and physical harassment for each of the 320 flat owners.

(With inputs from Ritika Gupta)