Builders cannot compel buyers to take possession of unfinished flats

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has ruled that a builder cannot force a homebuyer to take possession of a flat that is not fully constructed and for which no completion certificate has been issued by the local authority and that doing so is an unfair trade practice. This ruling could help many consumers who find themselves in a similar situation. A Bengaluru-based real estate company was ordered by a bench of C Viswanath and Ram Surat Ram Maurya to refund the entire amount of around Rs 3.5 crore, plus interest, to a buyer who refused to take possession of a villa without a completion certificate and filed a complaint against the builder. The panel issued the order after noting that the flat had been under construction for more than two years and was still incomplete and unlivable. When the complainant went to take possession, the builder insisted that they sign a paper stating that they were receiving possession of the villa in a fully ready condition, ostensibly to comply with the builder's alleged rule that they had to sign if they wanted to take the key to the villa. This was a deceptive business practice. The builder's action of offering possession with incomplete construction and without obtaining a Completion Certificate is not justified. Suman Kumar Jha and Pratibha Jha, the buyers, in this case, had reserved a 3,900 sq ft luxury villa in Mantri Technology Constellation Private Limited's Chennai project in 2013. By May 2015, the builder had promised to finish the work and hand over the keys to the villa. The couple had paid the builder all instalments by the construction-related plan. Image Source