Bengaluru: Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-Rera) has directed Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to pay Rs 56 lakh as interest to a complainant, Mridula Krishnapur, for delay in providing basic amenities at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL).This comes as another major blow to BDA, whose NPKL project was flagged as lapsed by K-Rera last year. The authority also ruled that BDA qualifies as a ‘promoter’ under Rera Act, making it liable for delays and deficiencies.Mridula had purchased a site in 8th Block of Sector-B of NPKL in Kengeri hobli for Rs 96.9 lakh under a lease-cum-sale deed, dated June 10, 2020. She was allotted the site on Oct 11, 2018, and paid the full amount by Feb 5, 2019. BDA issued a possession certificate on June 16, 2020, but the site was handed over without basic infrastructure.Alleging that essential amenities such as water, sewerage, electricity, roads, parks, and streetlights were not provided, she approached K-Rera seeking interest for the delay. While BDA appeared through counsel, it did not contest the case or file any objections to her claims. K-Rera held that merely executing the sale deed and handing over possession was insufficient without providing basic infrastructure. Though ownership was transferred, the allottee could not use the property or build a house in the absence of essential amenities, it observed.“To have a cosy house is everyone’s dream. To fulfil that dream, one could take the risk of investing all lifetime savings and raising loans in terms of lakhs or crores, which could take the rest of life to repay. That being so, (if) the developer … resorts to using the hard-earned money of investors in a reckless manner, it would not only shatter the dreams of investors, but also make them run from pillar to post by incurring heavy investment as well as legal expenses,” the authority said.While the complainant claimed Rs 68.8 lakh in interest, the authority bench, comprising chairman Rakesh Singh and member GR Reddy, on April 8 ordered BDA to pay Rs 56 lakh as interest on the delay period calculated from June 10, 2020 to Feb 2, 2026, within 60 days. It also ordered that interest from Feb 3 till the date of completion of basic amenities will be calculated likewise and paid to the complainant.
