SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Consumer Protection Act, 1985 – Non delivery of flats – Refund –

Developer had promised to handover possession within 24 months from the date of signing of the agreement – Despite period of two years being over there was no substantial pro-gress and as such, the Developer was deficient in rendering service –  It  was  agreed  that  wherever compensation was to be awarded, it should be in the form of interest @ 9% and the governing principles be as under:-

(a) In all Refund cases, the award of interest @ 9% would be payable in respect of deposits from the day they were made till the date of refund.

(b) In cases where, upon transfer, a subsequent purchaser had stepped into the shoes of the original allottee and had prayed for Refund, the reckoning date for computing the interest be from the date of his transfer in respect of all the amounts that were deposited by the original allottee and if any subsequent deposits were made by the transferee, from the dates of such deposits;

(c) In cases where Possession was sought, the period available to the Developer under the agreement being three years (that is to say original period of two years which was extendable, at the option of the Developer, by further period of one year) ought not to be computed while calculating compensation in the form of in-terest. Therefore, the period to be reckoned shall be after expiry of three years from the date of agreement and in respect of such period the compensation shall be at the same rate of 9%.

 

(d) In Possession cases, if there was any transfer and the transferee had stepped into the shoes of the original allottee, the compensation shall be paid from the date of expiry of three years from the agreement as aforesaid or from the date of transfer, whichever is later.