NEW DELHI: Forcing homebuyers to pay interest in the range of 18% per annum for delay in payment of instalment while the builders themselves pay a paltry 1.5-2% for delay in project amounts to an unfair trade practice which cannot be enforced, the apex consumer commission has ruled. A bench of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) president Justice R K Agrawal and member M Shreesha said such provisions in a builder-buyer agreement are unfair and unreasonable and a real estate company cannot be allowed to bind homebuyers with onesided contractual terms which protect the interests of the company at the cost of the buyers. \
It said there should be parity in the rate of interest to be paid by builders and homebuyers for not complying with the terms of agreement and suggested that builders should pay the same rate of interest for delay in project that they demand from buyers in case of delay in payment. NCDRC passed the order on the plea of a homebuyer who had booked a flat in 2012 in “Winter Hills 77” project in Gurgaon
being developed by Umang Realtech Pvt Ltd. The buyer was promised possession of the flat by December 2015 and had paid around Rs 83 lakh in instalments. As the builder failed to deliver the project even four years after the promised date, the buyer sought refund of the money with 18% interest per annum, the rate at which he had paid penalty to the builder for delay in payment on his part. The company, however, said it was liable to pay compensation at the rate of Rs 5 per square feet for delay as per the agreement. Rejecting its contention, the NCDRC said, “It is also an admitted fact that the opposite party (the company) charged interest at the rate of 18% pa for any delayed payments made by the purchasers and there is no justification in offering a meagre Rs 5 per sq ft, which comes to approximately 1.4% pa which is only a paltry percentage of what it was charging for any delayed payments.”