Consumer court orders ATS Estates to refund buyer's money

In a consumer complaint filed by a Chandigarh-based couple, the state consumer commission, Punjab, held that in case the builder of an apartment fails to give possession on time, the consumers are under no obligation to accept possession at a belated stage and can seek refund of the entire amount paid along with reasonable compensation in the form of interest. The judgement of the commission has come in the case of Nitika Verma and Nitin Verma against ATS Estates Private Limited. The complainants, who are husband and wife, had booked an apartment in the project known as 'ATS Golf Meadows Lifestyle' located at Derabassi on September 6, 2014, for a total price of Rs 61 lakh. According to the buyer agreement, the builder was to hand over the possession of the apartment within three years of the booking with a grace period of six months. The complainants had already been paid Rs 53.70 lakh against the total sale price and the remaining amount was to be paid at the time of delivery of possession. However, the builder defaulted in delivering the possession within the promised time and was only offering a compensation of Rs 5 per square feet per month by relying on the buyer agreement. The complainants approached the state commission through their lawyer on February 5, 2019.