The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has directed L&T Realty to deduct only 2% of the total consideration amount and refund the balance to homebuyers who had booked apartments in their Central Mumbai project in 2015.
The homebuyers had decided to pull out of the project citing delay in possession. The developer, however, contended that as per the MahaRERA deadline the completion was scheduled for 2023, and there was no written promise of possession in 2019.
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The case
Two homebuyers Mitali Enterprises and Himgiri Associates had in 2015 booked a unit each in a project named Crescent Bay project in Parel area of Mumbai. The project is constructed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Realty. The two homebuyers filed complaints under Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) and approached the MahaRERA to seek refund of the entire money paid by them to the developer along with interest and compensation under the provisions of the Act.
The homebuyers had claimed that the above reliefs were sought by them as the developer had delayed the completion and did not hand over the project within a period of three years.
The homebuyers contended that at the time of booking the unit in 2015, the developer had agreed to hand over possession of the said flats to them on or before 2019. They also claimed that the developer had not mentioned any specific date of possession and had thereby violated the prevailing provisions of section 4 of RERA.
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The homebuyers further contended that the respondent had also accepted their request for refund in the year 2021, but had failed to refund the said amount to them. They had, therefore, filed the complaint seeking refund of the entire money paid by them along with interest and compensation under section 18 of the RERA.
The developer on his part stated that the homebuyers had defaulted and had failed to execute the registered agreements for sale as per the terms stipulated in the said booking application forms.
On the delay, the developer contended that there is no specific date of possession mentioned in the said booking application forms. However, the project got completed before the revised completion date of the said project i.e. March 30, 2023 after it obtained the occupation certificate (OC) for the flats on January 31, 2022. Hence, developer prayed for dismissal of these complaints.
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MahaRERA’s order
According to MahaRERA, the homebuyers had submitted booking application forms that are dated July 25, 2015. These had been duly signed by homebuyers who had paid an amount of Rs.58.81 lakh and ₹59.37 lakh (respectively) out of the total consideration amount of ₹2.97 crore and ₹2.85 crore respectively, which amounts to nearly 20% of the total consideration value of the said flats. Further, no specific date of possession is mentioned in the said booking application forms signed by both the parties, which has lapsed since then.
The MahaRERA said in its order that the homebuyers had alleged that the developer had delayed the completion of the project but had failed to submit any cogent documentary proof on record of the regulatory authority to show that the respondent had agreed to handover possession of the said flats by December 2019.
“Hence, in the absence of any written contract between the parties, showing any agreed date of possession, which has lapsed, the MahaRERA is not inclined to accept the contentions of the complainants that the date of possession in this case committed by the respondent for handing over possession of the said flats was 31-12-2019,” the MahaRERA said in its order dated September 30, 2024.
The MahaRERA in its order also stated that part OC for the said project was obtained on January 31, 2022 and homebuyers had filed their complaint after the completion of their flats and after the OC for the said project was obtained.
Hence, the MahaRERA prima facie is of the opinion that there is no violation of section 18 of the RERA by the developer due to which the prayer of the complainants for refund along with interest and compensation could be considered favourably by the MahaRERA under section 18 of the RERA, the order said.
The MahaRERA rejected the claim of interest sought by complainants along with the entire refund amount. It directed the developer to refund the money paid by the complainants towards the consideration of the said flats without any interest, after deducting 2% of the total consideration (value) (excluding the statutory dues paid to the government/brokerage if any) within a period of 45 days from the date of this order.
In an email response to HT.com, L&T Realty said, “We respect the decision of RERA and stand by it.”
In a related case, the MahaRERA had directed L&T to deduct only 2% of the amount already paid by a homebuyer based in Abu Dhabi and refund the balance. The non-resident Indian (NRI) had booked a flat in a project in the Kurla area of Mumbai developed by L&T Realty, the real estate arm of the conglomerate, and had paid more than ₹25 lakh out of the total cost of ₹2.29 crore.
