A consumer court here has directed a builder to pay nearly Rs. 10 lakh as compensation to two persons for delaying handing over possession of their flats by almost two years.
The 3rd Additional Bangalore Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, in its May 23 orders, issued directions to Ozone Shelters Pvt. Ltd., the builder, and Keystones Constructions, owner of the property situated at Ambalipura in Bangalore, where the apartment complex is located.
Based on the orders, Shailesh Kumar Talele will get a compensation of Rs. 4.73 lakh and Bhupati Shukla Rs. 4.36 lakh, at the rate of 10 per cent a month according to the terms of purchase agreement. They will also get Rs. 25,000 each as compensation for mental agony caused to them owing to the delay and Rs. 10,000 each as the cost of litigation.
The forum had passed similar orders on March 27 asking the builder to pay compensation to two other purchasers — Raman Singh and Sudarshan P. The Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on April 30 stayed these two orders.
However, the builder claimed that the complainants had signed letters on April 30, 2013 stating that they had “no further financial claims”. The builder had also claimed that construction was prolonged for reasons beyond their control owing to delay in securing approval from the authorities, non-availability of construction materials such as sand owing to strike by lorry owners. The forum, comprising its president T. Rajashekharaiah and member Subhashini, said a professional builder had to fix period for completing construction by considering various factors, and anyway, the delay of nearly two years could not be justified in the absence of supporting documents.
