Gurugram H-Rera penalises developer for violating norms

The court observed that a promoter shall not accept a sum of more than 10% of the total cost without first entering into a written agreement for sale with such person

The Gurugram bench of the Haryana real estate regulatory authority (Rera) on Tuesday penalised a real estate promoter for violating Rera norms that prescribe the signing of a builder-buyer agreement (BBA) before accepting more than 10% amount of the total consideration. The authority imposed a penalty of ₹1 lakh each in five different complaints of a similar nature lodged by buyers who had bought the property from the developer.

The authority observed that the developer, Vatika Ltd, had taken 100% of the amount from each property owner without signing the BBA, which was against the rules.

When asked about the matter, a spokesperson for Vatika Ltd said, “The company will appeal this order because all the facts of the case and the company’s representations have not been considered.”

The court observed that according to Section 13 of the Rera Act 2016, a promoter shall not accept a sum of more than 10% of the total cost of an apartment, plot, or building as the case may be an advance payment or an application fee from a person without first entering into a written agreement (BBA) for sale with such person and register the said agreement for sale.

“Whereas, in the instant matter the respondent (Vatika Limited) has taken 100% of the consideration without executing the BBA,” the order said.

According to the statement issued by H-Rera Gurugram, all five complainants had approached it in October 2022 after they failed to get any relief from the developer in the matter. The authority said that the complainants had booked commercial units in the Vatika India Next project in 2018 and paid full consideration to the promoter without executing BBA. A year later, Vatika transferred their units without their consent to a different project Vatika One on One in Sector 16, and also reduced the unit sizes to 500 sqft from the original 1,000 sqft, the authority said.

After hearing the matter, the H-Rera court in Gurugram on Tuesday observed, “The authority establishes the violation of Section 13 of the Act 2016 on part of Vatika Limited and hereby imposes a penalty under Section 61 of ₹1lakh in each complaint and further directs the promoter to execute the registered buyer’s agreement as per the model agreement provided in the Real Estate Regulation and Development Rules 2017 within 30 days from the order failing which the authority shall be bound to invoke penal action under Section 63.”

The court also imposed a penalty of ₹25,000 in each case and directed that the complainant should be paid the amount within 30 days from the date of this order under Section 63 of the Act 2016.

The court also directed the developer to pay interest for every month of delay from the due date of possession till a valid offer of possession at the prescribed rate.