Summary
The Court upheld consumer orders granting homebuyers refunds for delayed possession. RERA supplies an additional remedy and does not exclude consumer jurisdiction. Withdrawal of an existing consumer complaint to approach the RERA adjudicating officer is optional. A later RERA registration deadline did not postpone the buyers’ accrued rights under their agreements. The builder’s appeals were dismissed with additional costs.
Issues
- Whether RERA excluded consumer jurisdiction over delayed-possession complaints.
- Whether the project’s later RERA registration period postponed the buyers’ refund claims.
Provisions considered
- Sections 3 and 12(4), Consumer Protection Act, 1986Applied the additional-remedy provision and restriction on transfer of admitted complaints. (¶¶ 19, 20, 21, 27, 28)
- Sections 18 and 19(4), Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016Recognised the allottee’s option to withdraw and seek refund for failure to deliver under the agreement, or remain and receive delay interest. (¶¶ 19, 23, 28, 30, 33)
- Sections 71(1), 79, 88 and 89, Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016Held consumer proceedings were not barred; withdrawal under the proviso to Section 71(1) was optional and the remedies were compatible. (¶¶ 19, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
- Sections 100 and 107, Consumer Protection Act, 2019Noted continued protection of additional remedies and saving of the proceedings and orders under the repealed Act. (¶ 34)
Held
- The findings that these complainants were consumers and that construction was delayed were correct. The builder’s explanations did not warrant interference with the Commission’s conclusions. (¶ 18)
- Consumer remedies are additional to other available statutory remedies. A consumer forum is not a civil court for the purpose of RERA Section 79; that provision did not bar these complaints. RERA did not make its remedies exclusive or displace the consumer remedy. (¶¶ 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
- The proviso to Section 71(1) gives a complainant an option, with the consumer forum’s permission, to withdraw a pending complaint and approach the RERA adjudicating officer. It neither compels withdrawal nor establishes mandatory transfer. Consumer complaints may also be initiated after RERA commenced. (¶ 28)
- An allottee whose agreed possession date has passed may elect refund under Section 18(1), rather than remain in the project and receive delay interest under its proviso. The promoter’s later registration valid until December 2020 did not defer rights already arising from the agreed completion period. (¶¶ 23, 30, 33)
- Sections 100 and 107 of the 2019 consumer legislation preserved the additional remedy and saved these proceedings and resultant orders. The complainants could execute the Commission’s orders in accordance with law. (¶¶ 34, 35, 36)
Result
Appeals dismissed; Commission’s refund orders affirmed. Additional costs of Rs.50,000 in each consumer case were awarded over the amounts already directed; complainants entitled to execute their orders in accordance with law.