I have booked a flat of 60lakhs in kerala by paying 1 lakh with the booking form on 27th August 2018 ( for blocking that apatment) , They offered this price on the condition that i should pay 20lakhs initially. So i paid 19 lakhs on 1st septemeber. Got a email from them on 3rd Spetember that they received 19 lakhs and flat is allotted in my name( But we paid 20 lakhs). After several follow ups , got the draft agreement on 17th september. With in this period, we felt their service very unprofessional. After much thought , we sent them the cancellation letter on october 23 rd. Now they are saying that a deduction of 5 to 10% will be cancellation charge. Can they go with cancellation charges if :- There is no deduction clause in the booking form-only that, in case of cancellation the refund will be done in 90 days.Nor in receipts. There is a condition that we will sign an agreement with in 15 days of booking. Even on follow-ups they sent the draft by email after 20 days. Another condition is that we agree to enter in to an agreement as per the payment schedule agreed upon. The project is in kerala and the booking form states that it is subject to Bangalore Jurisdiction. At the time of booking, only excavation was done on the site. And till now only one basement level is constructed. Expected possession March 2021. Please advice.
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1) since there is no cancellation clause in your allotment letter issue legal notice to builder seek refund of money paid by you with interest
2) if builder fails to refund file complaint before consumer forum seek refund of money with interest
3) also seek litigation costs and compensation for mental torture undergone by you
You have signed an application form at the time of flat booking. Please check if there are any hidden terms and conditions mentioned in the backside of the Booking Form.
Usually, Terms and Conditions of the documents will stand.
In case the terms of booking allow for flat cancellation, you should send a legal notice to the builder for claiming the Rs. 20 lakh paid by you as booking fee.
Subsequently, if the legal notice does not result in your booking fee being returned to you by the builder, you can move the concerned Consumer Court under deficiency in the Service and unfair trade practice.
Dear Client,
Project must be registered with RERA and without registered agreement to sell, builder cannot receive more than 10% in advance, violation by builder and liable to penalize by RERA.
And as per , agreement clause , no deduction on termination than 100% refund.
Jurisdiction will be where agreement executed and not exclusively of Bangalore.
IS there any dispute resolution clause ?
Consumer complain also maintainable.
Sir after receiving the 20 lakh also the seller/builder has not signed any sale agreement in that case you are entitled to total refund on cancellation serve the builder a legal notice for refund within 15 days of notice period along the interest. if he fails to refund the amount file a RERA complaint before rera authority in kerala.
Alternatively you can also file a consumer complaint for refund of the amount with interest for deficiency in services.
The place of booking and the property situation is not important at this moment you have both the property and pay the advance if it was required to pay only one lakh rupees then that can be taken and forfeited as application money if provided in the application form and agreed by you.
Please see the terms and conditions of the Builder buyer agreement which you received on 17th September regarding any class that you agreed for and in case your deduction is not as per the agreement then you have to move your complaint to state consumer dispute redressal Commission find the entire amount interest in legal charges against builder.
You can send a legal notice to the Builder in this regard before you move to the state Commission.
In the present case, you should serve a legal notice to the Builder asking him to refund the entire amount along with interest, as he had failed to fulfill his part of the contract by not providing the documentation on time specified in the agreement.
Also,he cannot forfeit any amount paid by you as the agreement is silent in this regard.
1) You can make complaints in two different offices one is RERA and another is consumer forum of your project city.
Check the builder headoffice is Bangalore where he has kept jurisdiction in agreement clause.
it will be a daunting task to get refund
generally the builder deducts 5 to 10% from amount paid towards cancellation charges
this is for the reason that had you not booked the flat, the builder could have sold it to another potential buyer who would have paid the entire sale price
even if you approach RERA tribunal, they cannot help you much
upto 10% deduction is quite reasonable. However one needs to ensure that refund is done at the earliest and not at the whims of the builder
If the agreement has not not been entered into then it is treated as mere booking and not a sale agreement.
Therefore upon cancellation they should return the entire booking amount and deductions if any shall be restricted towards administrative costs alone
You can resort to legal action through consumer forum for solutions to this if the builder is trying to play unfair trade practice.
1. If there is no forfieture clause or cancellation charge mentioned in the booking application or any document so far signed by you, you can claim back the entire amount paid by you on the ground that you want to withdraw your booking being dissatisfied with the lack of prompt services/respomses from the side of the sellers.
2. If the project is RERA compliant then file a complaint case before the RERA Tribunal or otherwise file a complaint case before the local District Consumer Dispurte Redressal Forum against the seller alleging deficiency in service and unfair business practice claiming refund of the entire amount paid by you with interest, dsamage and cost.
