Gurgaon: The real estate regulator has ordered a developer to pay Rs 14.7 lakh in compensation to a Delhi homebuyer, who paid nearly Rs 13.2 lakh for a flat in an affordable housing project that never got off the ground. Dwarka resident Saurav Banerjee had booked a flat in Mahira Homes-104 in Sector 104.In an order dated Oct 5, Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (HRera) adjudicating officer Rajender Kumar assessed the buyer’s lost property appreciation as equal to the amount he had paid. HRera directed Czar Buildwell Pvt Ltd to pay Banerjee Rs 13.2 lakh for loss of appreciation, Rs 1 lakh for mental agony and harassment and Rs 50,000 as litigation expenses, with 11% annual interest from the date of the order until payment.Banerjee had paid Rs 1,29,299 as the booking amount. He was allotted unit 1601 on the 16th floor of Tower-3, with a carpet area of over 643 sq ft and a balcony of over 145 sq ft, though he said no allotment letter was ever issued. He later paid Rs 5.3 lakh in Dec 2021, Rs 3.3 lakh in May 2022 and another Rs 3.3 lakh in Feb 2023, taking his total payment to Rs 13,25,977. No builder-buyer agreement was ever executed.When he visited the site, he found only barren land. Despite repeated enquiries, the developer kept assuring him that the allotment letter would be issued soon. The regulator had earlier, on Jan 30, in a separate complaint, ordered a full refund of Rs 13,25,977 with 10.80% annual interest from the date of each payment. That order was not challenged and has become final.Banerjee sought Rs 25 lakh as compensation and Rs 1.1 lakh towards litigation charges. His counsel, Yamini Naryal, argued property prices near the project had doubled or tripled. The officer noted that no reliable evidence supported this, but held that the claim could not be rejected merely for want of conclusive proof, since compensation must be decided under Section 72 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.Relying on an AI overview from Google, the order records that prices of homes under Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojana in Sector 104 rose roughly 100% to 120% between Feb 2023 and Jan 2026, driven by the full operationalisation of Dwarka Expressway and a state policy that stopped fresh licences under the scheme in Gurgaon.The officer presumed that Banerjee’s Rs 13,25,977, had it been invested in a similar nearby project, would have appreciated to at least the same amount and awarded Rs 13.2 lakh on that count.
