Noida consumer panel orders Yamuna body to refund with 6% interest
District consumer commission in Noida tells Yamuna Authority to return Rs 2.80 lakh plus 6% annual interest to a homebuyer within 30 days after delayed construction.
A Noida consumer commission has ordered Yamuna Authority to refund a buyer’s booking amount with interest.
The authority failed to build the flat on time in Greater Noida’s Sector-22A.
noida, yamuna authority, consumer commission, greater noida, property refund, 6% interest, flat booking, anil kumar pundir, anju sharma
Yamuna Authority must pay back Rs 2.80 lakh with 6% annual interest to a homebuyer within 30 days. The District Consumer Commission in Noida passed the order against the public body.
And the bench made it clear the authority broke its own stated terms. The panel was led by president Anil Kumar Pundir and member Anju Sharma.
Ombir Singh, a Pune resident, had applied in 2014 for a 2BHK flat of 880 square feet in Sector-22A of Greater Noida. The flat was offered under Yamuna Authority’s BHS Yamunotri Housing Scheme. His name came up in the lottery and he got an allocation letter.
He deposited Rs 2.80 lakh as registration through Bank of Baroda. But construction never began within the stipulated period. No progress has been seen on site even now, which is unusual for a 2014 allotment.
In 2017, Ombir Singh wrote to the authority asking for his money back with six percent interest. The authority did not respond to that request. He then filed a case before the consumer commission.
The authority argued he was not a consumer. It said he failed to deposit the allocation amount of Rs 558800 on time. It also claimed Ombir and his wife had filed separate applications, violating brochure rules.
But the commission rejected that line. It held the brochure is merely information, not a contract. The authority’s own letter had given two options to allottees. One was shifting to another project. The other was taking refund with six percent interest.
Ombir chose the refund option. The authority did not return the money. That non-compliance decided the case.
The tribunal found the authority did not complete construction in the promised time. It ruled in the buyer’s favour after hearing both sides. The order directs payment of the principal sum with annual interest within 30 days.
Worth noting is the authority’s admission through its letter that refunds with interest were on the table. It simply did not act on the chosen option.
The consumer forum’s decision covers only the original Rs 2.80 lakh and 6% yearly interest. No penalty beyond that amount has been specified in the order.
By the commission’s deadline, Yamuna Authority has to transfer the refund to Ombir Singh.
