Home buyers of the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) project Omicron 1 have mounted legal challenge against the government agency for having failed to deliver the project on time, and also for demanding extra charges over and above the agreed price and against the contractual obligation that does not have any escalation clause.
One of the aggrieved buyers, Neelam Tandon, after having made several reminders to the agency, had approached the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). She was subsequently asked by the RERA Authority to take possession of the delayed project and directed the government agency to pay delayed interest from January 30, 2017 at the rate of MCLR+1 per cent till the offer of possession.
The buyer has now challenged the RERA judgment before the RERA Appellate, since Section 18 of RERA states that the buyer has a right to demand refund with interest if the project has not been delivered on time.
Disputed properties
Tandon is one of the buyers scheduled to get the possession by January-end 2017 but was offered the possession only in July, 2019. Moreover, she was also asked to pay an extra fee of more than ₹5 lakh, over and above the total cost, as agreed in the contract.
GNIDA is home to one of the most disputed property markets of the country. The government agency has the mandate of regulating the private builders and giving occupancy/completion certificates on the merits of the project. However, the agency itself has failed to complete the project on time and offer the buyers possession within the agreed time and price.
According to Tandon’s counsellor Shivam Tyagi, the GNIDA, that should ideally set the precedent of how private builders should operate, seems to be inspired by the wrongdoings of the builders in this case.