Noida: District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) directed M/s Ajnara India Ltd, a Noida-based real estate developer, to pay Rs 1.71 lakh to a customer with 6% interest within 30 days of the order after it failed to hand over a flat booked in 2018 or return the booking amount. The commission also ordered the developer to pay Rs 4,000 as penalty towards litigation costs and for causing mental agony.Commission president Anil Kumar Pundir and member Anju Sharma passed the order on Saturday, clarifying that the interest on the outstanding amount would be calculated from the date of the filing of the complaint in 2020 till the final payment is made.Dadri resident Rani Kanchan Lata Kumari filed a complaint on Nov 20, 2020, alleging that she had purchased a residential unit in the developer’s project for which a price of Rs 32.41 lakh was quoted. She booked the flat on Aug 16, 2018, after depositing Rs 11,000. She later deposited additional funds as requisitioned by the builders.After receiving the amount, they did not issue an allotment letter, nor did they provide any information. “After relentless effort, the defendants finally informed that the project was put on hold and signed an indemnity bond promising to return the entire sum deposited,” she said.The complainant told the bench that she had provided all necessary documents requested by the developers for cancellation, but no acknowledgement or receipt was provided. “Finally I decided to take up the matter legally and issued a pleader’s notice on Aug 18, 2020, but no action was taken,” she said.The counsel for the developers submitted a counterclaim, refuting the allegations, stating that the complainant intended to purchase a residential unit in a residential project called M/s Ajnara Olive Greens.“Pursuant to an order of the NCLT, the Ajnara Ambrosia project was put on hold. Consequently, other projects’ operations are halted until further orders. Therefore, the complaint should be dismissed,” counsel for the developers said.Having perused the documents filed by both sides, the commission observed that the complainant repeatedly requested a refund of her deposited amount, but the developers refused. “The NCLT order was issued for the Ajnara Ambrosia project, not Ajnara Olive Greens; therefore, the defendants committed a deficiency in service by failing to commence any work on the project for which they had received funds and not refunding the said amount,” the commission ruled.
