Developer/Builder Not Refunding Booking Amount

1. 23 March 2016 - My parents and I jointly booked a 3 BHK flat in an under construction project in Jaypee Sports City, Yamuna Expressway, Greater Noida under a No-EMI/No-Interest till offer of possession scheme (10:80:10) through a broker along with upfront payment of 10% of the booking amount Rs. 6.468 lakhs. 2. Subsequently, facilitation of loan from the developer’s end through banks did not materialise due to no fault of ours. Furthermore, no communication in this regards was received from their end. We did not enter into any legal builder-buyer agreement with the developer. 3. We also observed that the construction timelines were being delayed and that the developer wouldn’t be able to complete the project by the proposed date of December 2019. By the middle of 2017 it was clearly apparent that the project will be delayed till at least 2021. Moreover, we also realised that the location wouldn’t be a practical and populous enough place to live in till at least the late 2020s. Therefore we decided to cancel and exit the booking rather than pursue the loan approval from our end. We spoke about the cancellation and exit with our broker and the developer. They offered us the option of transferring our booking to their another project located in Sector 143, Noida. We considered that option. The project’s superstructure was complete and the flats were already installed with tiling, POP work and bathroom fixtures. However, we observed something fishy in that they kept on promising possession of the flat within 3 months but after every the 3 months nothing moved on the ground at the project site. It seemed that that project itself was stalled due to some financial troubles. Therefore, we decided that it’s wise to just cancel, exit and get a refund. 4. 07/08/2017 – We applied for cancellation of the booking and refund of the booking amount in written. We even obtained a NoC from the broker’s end for the cancellation and full refund of the booking amount. 5. 13/09/2017, 26/02/2018, 23/04/2018 – 3 written reminders have been served till date. 6. We’ve also met the developers twice and received positive oral assurances of a quick refund. 7. However, till now there’s been no response from their end and there’s no sign of the booking amount being refunded to us. 8. Even the terms and conditions of the application for booking clearly says that our booking amount is to be refunded in case the buying scheme, i.e. 10:80:10, does not go through due to some reason not in the buyer’s control. 9. The project itself has stalled and construction stopped. There are unconfirmed reports that the developer is in complete financial, compliance and tax troubles. At least 1 of the director of the developer’s firm is in jail due to some compliance/tax problem. 10. What should be our legal course of action?