UP RERA imposes penalty of ₹5000 on a property buyer for filing multiple complaints and misusing the process of law

UP RERA imposes a penalty of ₹5000 on a property buyer who had filed repeated complaints on the same matter and for ‘wasting the time of the court’

Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority, has for the first time, imposed a penalty of ₹5000 on a property buyer who had filed a complaint for the fourth time for delay in possession and registration of a unit, a matter that had already been decided by the bench.

UP RERA, has for the first time, imposed a penalty of ₹5000 on a property buyer who had filed a complaint for the fourth time for delay in possession and registration of a unit

The allottee had already received possession of the unit in a commercial project in Noida Extension. UP RERA Chairman Sanjay Bhoosreddy took strong objection to the fourth complaint and imposed a cost of ₹5,000 on him, according to an official statement.

"UP RERA is continuously imparting justice to the large number of allottees who have filed complaints with it, instances of some allottees filing repeated complaints in the same matter and thus misusing the process of law, are also surfacing," it said.

"His conduct was contrary to the rulings of the Supreme Court which has been continuously holding that a litigant must approach the court with clean hands and must not be allowed to misuse the process of law and wasting the time of the court," it added.

The first complaint filed by the homebuyer had to do with granting possession of the property and payment of interest for delay. This had been decided with the direction to the promoter that the unit be handed over with registered sub-lease deed and interest be paid for delay in possession. The promoter had complied with the order and paid interest for delay amounting to ₹2.68 lakh, the statement said.

The allottee had filed the second complaint seeking similar relief which was dismissed by the Bench on the ground that the matter had been decided earlier. The buyer then filed a third complaint before the adjudicating officer of RERA seeking compensation. The adjudicating officer settled the complaint by ordering that compensation of ₹50,000 be paid to the buyer, it observed.

“So this allottee had got every relief permissible under RERA fairly and quickly," the UPRERA statement said.

The same allottee filed a fourth complaint on the same matter and sought relief

Sanjay Bhoosreddy, chairman of UP RERA, said that he was handling about 40% complaints in the country and if a few allottee kept approaching the Authority for the same relief in the same matter again and again, delivery of justice by the Benches to the allottees is bound to get impacted.

A heavy cost has been imposed on the complainant to ensure that genuine allottees get relief as per law and unscrupulous complainants must be deterred from wasting the time of the Benches, the order said.

Last month, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) had directed nine homebuyers in Pune to execute cancellation deeds after city-based developer GERA Developments filed a complaint with the real estate regulator stating that the homebuyers had failed to make timely payments in accordance with their respective sale agreements.