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NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES
REDRESSAL COMMISSION, NEW DELHI
Hon’ble Mr. Justice V. Balakrishna Eradi, President;
Mr. Justice B.S. Yadav & Mr. Justice S.S. Chadha,
Dr. (Mrs.) R. Thamarajakshi & Mr. S.P. Bagla, Members
DELHI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY—Petitioner
versus
A.N. SAIGAL—Respondent
Revision Petition No. 578 of 1994—Decided on 30.10.1995

Headnote:Consumer Protection Act, 1986 - Sections 12 & 17 - Allotment of house in a scheme Complainant got allotment changed in another scheme & was required to pay price & interest at 10% on instalments deposited under earlier scheme with a view that being new entrant he did not get undue advantage over earlier entrants of scheme- Complainant having accepted those terms & making payment took possession of flat in new scheme & now can not be heard to repudiate a part of transaction Complainants revision against order of State Commission had been dismissed on ground that pricing could not be gone into by a Consumer· Forum - State Commission was not vested with jurisdiction to allow refund of amount charged towards excess of interest. (Paras 5 to 8)

       Result: Revision allowed.

       IMPORTANT POINT

        Question of pricing can not be gone into by the Consumer Forums.

ORDER

Mr. Justice B.S. Yadav, Member—This Revision Petition has been filed against the order of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Delhi. By the impugned order the Delhi Development Authority (for short the DDA) has been directed to pay interest at the rate of 10% per annum on the instalments deposited by the present Respondent Mr. A.N. Saigal, who was the complainant, from the date of deposit till 14th February, 1986. The refund was ordered to be made within a period of three months filing which the amount is to carry interest at the rate of 15% from the date of complaint till the date of payment. Feeling aggrieved by the said order DDA has filed this Revision Petition.

2. Briefly the facts are that the complainant has applied for a flat under Self Financing Scheme (SFS) and was allocated flat in Category-II in Vasant Kunj, Pocket-5, Sector-B on the basis of draw held on 14th December, 1988. The complainant vide his letter dated 9th July, 1985 requested for a change in allocation in view of his impending retirement. The request of the complainant for change was accepted and the flat of Category-II, SFS flat on 2nd floor in Kishangarh, Sector-A Residential Scheme was allocated to him and an Allotment cum/Demand Letter dated 13th January, 1986 was issued to him. In this demand letter the scheme of payment was outlined. It was also indicated in the demand letter that “in addition to the above you are liable to pay interest charges at 10% on the amount of instalments mentioned from the due date to the actual date of payment”. In the Allotment-cumDemand letter the details of price of the new flat allocated to the complainant were clearly spelt out. The D.D.A. paid interest to the complainant at 7% on the amount of instalments deposited by him in accordance with the terms and conditions of the brochure of the scheme under which he had got himself registered in Category-II flat, Vasant Kunj. The scheme of payment was as given below :

1st instalment by 14.3.84 Rs. 43,500.00

2nd instalment by 31.12.84 Rs. 34,800.00

3rd instalment by 30.6.85 Rs. 43,500.00

4th instalment by 28.2.86 Rs. 34,800.00

3. The complainant has made payments according to the above schedule. The scheme of payment with reference to the flat in Kishangarh which was allocated to him on his request about change was as follows :

1st instalment by 10.4.83 Rs. 59,075.00

2nd instalment by 10.10.83 Rs. 47,260.00

3rd instalment by 10.4.84 Rs. 59,075.00

4th instalment by 10.10.84 Rs. 47,260.00

4. DD A’s case is that the comparison of the schemes of payments would indicate that in the case of flats in Kishangarh, the payment started on 10th April, 1983 as against the payments in the Vasant Kunj Scheme where it started on 14th March, 1984. The amount of each instalment in Kishangarh Scheme was also higher as compared to the Vasant Kunj Scheme. In accordance with the Policy of DDA when a flat from earlier scheme is released in favour of new entrant the price of the flat allotted to the new entrant is determined by charging interest at the prescribed rate from the date of various instalments due as per estimated costs to the date when the payment was actually made by the new entrant with a view to ensure that the new entrant does not get undue advantage over the earlier entrants of the scheme. The interest so calculated is in fact an element for working out the cost of flat for new entrants of a scheme, though it is described as ‘interest’. The changed flat in Kishangarh was allotted to the complainant on these terms which were accepted by him and he had made the payments accordingly and the possession of the flat was taken by him. It was open to the complainant to refuse this flat on these payment terms contained in the Allotment-cum-Demand letter. After having accepted the terms and after taking the possession of the flat he cannot now question those terms.

5. The case of the complainant as disclosed in the counter filed in this Revision Petition is that the DDA had given











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