Ghaziabad: The district consumer disputes redressal commission has directed real estate developer Solitaire Real Infra to complete construction and hand over possession of a flat to a couple within 30 days, holding the builder guilty of deficiency in service for failing to honour its 2019 buyer agreement. The order has wider significance as several NCR homebuyers continue to await possession of flats delayed or stalled for nearly a decade.In an ex parte order passed on Aug 13, commission president Anil Kumar Pundir and member Anju Sharma ruled that the developer had failed to deliver the apartment within the promised timeline and continued raising payment demands despite the project remaining incomplete.The 665 sq ft apartment was booked by Lalit Saxena and Dheeraj, residents of Ghaziabad, in Solitairian City project within JP Green Sports City in Greater Noida. The couple booked the flat on the 20th floor of Tower Turbo-T1 in 2019 for Rs 21 lakh. According to the complaint, they initially paid Rs 8.2 lakh and later deposited another Rs 1.3 lakh after the developer sought additional payments.The agreement, signed on March 27, 2019, promised possession by 2021 and included a clause requiring the builder to pay delay compensation of Rs 5 per sq ft if the deadline was missed. The complainants told the commission that although construction failed to progress as agreed, the developer repeatedly issued demand letters seeking outstanding payments. They subsequently paid another Rs 2.3 lakh on different dates, but alleged that work on the tower had stopped.The couple also claimed that when they sought compensation for the delay and a revised completion schedule, company representatives threatened to cancel the booking and forfeit the money already deposited.After the complaint was filed before the consumer commission on July 11 last year, notices were issued to Solitaire Real Infra, but the company neither appeared before the commission nor filed a written response. The matter was therefore heard ex parte on the basis of affidavits and documentary evidence submitted by the complainants.After examining the records, the commission held that there was no rebuttal to the buyers’ claims and concluded that the developer had breached the terms of the agreement. The commission ordered Solitaire Real Infra to complete construction of the flat after collecting the balance payment strictly as per the buyer agreement, and to hand over possession within 30 days of the order. It also directed the builder to pay Rs 2,000 to the couple towards litigation expenses.
