I am from Bangalore.
I booked a plot in Jan 2013 and paid more than 50% of the cost. Signed the agreement and the developer promised to deliver by
Dec 2014.
Again 1 year later the agreement was revised and some more changes to the layout and completion date was promised as Mar 2015.
There is a penalty clause in the agreement which is as below
"The Developer hereby represents that it shall complete the Project as detailed
under Clause 1(a)(iii) above. However, despite all efforts, if the Project is not
completed within the said period, a further grace period of 6 (six) months shall be
considered. If the Developer still fails to complete the Project even after the expiry
of the grace period, then the Developer shall pay 18% interest per annum to the
Purchaser for the amount paid by the Purchaser till such time the Project is
completed. However, this penalty shall not be applicable if the delay is caused due
to acts of nature or state, labor unrest, unavailability of raw materials or force
majeure.
"
The penalty period will start by Oct 2015. Current status only about 40% work completed.
Now again they have revised the plan and increased the no. of plots from 283 to 482 (made larger plots to smaller plots) which is a 70% increase in number of houses. But the area which comes under park/club house etc is reduced by 30% to accomodate roads for this 70% increase of no. of plots.
Since the original plan was compromised, I decided to withdraw from this project and asked them to refund the money with 10% interest.
But the developer says they will not pay any interest and instead they will force the following clause in the agreement
"
In the event of termination due to the default committed by the Purchaser, the
Developer shall be entitled to recover from the Purchaser Rs. 25,000/- as liquidated
damages by adjusting the same against the amounts paid by the Purchaser till the
date of termination and refund the balance if any, within 30 days from the date of
realization of sale proceeds of the schedule property from a third party buyer.
"
What are the legal options that I have ? Should I approach the consumer court or file a law suit
with best regards
Ramasamy S
