ORDER

Ram Surat Ram Maurya, Presiding Member.—Heard Mr. Abhinav Ramakrishna, Advocate, for the complainants and Mr. Prabhakar Tiwari, Advocate, for the opposite party.

2. Amarjit Sidhu and Paramjit Sidhu (complainants-1 and 1-A) filed aforementioned complaint under Section-12(1) (c) of Consumer Protection Act, 1986, for directing the opposite party (hereinafter referred to as the builder) (i) to complete the construction work of the entire project ‘Parsvnath City’ including the flat of complainants-1 and 1-A and handover possession of the flats to each buyer, complete in all respect, with all amenities within stipulated time, (ii) to pay interest @18% per annum on the amount deposited by the buyers for the period of delay in handing over possession of the flats, (iii) to pay Rs.2/- lacs as the costs of the litigation and (iv) any other relief, which is deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case. This Commission, vide order dated 03.01.2018, granted permission under Section-12(1) (c) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and granted leave to sue in representative capacity, in respect of such allottees of residential flats/houses in the project, who are interested in taking possession of their respective flats along with delayed compensation and have not approached this Commission.

3. The facts, as stated in the complaint and emerged from the documents, are that the builder was a company, engaged in the business of development and construction of residential and commercial buildings and selling its unit to the prospective buyers. In the year 2009, the builder launched a project of group housing in the name of “Parsvnath City” at village Dharuhera, district Rewari, Haryana. This township consist different categories of residential units i.e. (i) Parsvnath Elite Floors, (ii) Parsvnath Pleasant, (iii) Parsvnath Elite Villas and (iv) Plots. On coming to know about this project, complainants-1 and 1-A visited the office and site of the builder and discussed about the project. Complainants-1 and 1-A booked a 3BHK flat (super built area 1775 sq.ft, basic sale price Rs.1817500/-), in Parsvnath Elite Floors on 06.10.2009 and gave two cheques of Rs.61750/- and Rs.190000/- respectively and Flat No. A-230-G was allotted to them. Complainants-1 and 1-A opted for “Construction Linked Payment Plan”. Flat Buyer Agreement was executed on 16.11.2009. As per demand notices, complainants-1 and 1-A deposited Rs.61750/- on 06.10.2009, Rs.190000/- on 06.10.2009, Rs.111750/- on 16.11.2009, Rs.142470/- on 03.09.2010, Rs.100000/- on 03.09.2010, Rs.25000/- 03.09.2010, Rs.187366/- on 07.03.2015 and Rs.203560/- on 05.02.2016 and Rs.203333/- on 06.09.2017 (total Rs.1210234/-). After filing of the complaint, Complainants-1 and 1-A deposited some instalments and total Rs.1413000/- was deposited. As per clause-9 (a) of the agreement, the construction has to be completed in 24 months from the commencement of the construction, with grace period of 6 months. The construction commenced on 03.02.2010 and due date of possession was 03.08.2012. Complainants-1 and 1-A paid about 77% of total sale price. Complainants-1 and 1-A visited the site time to time and found that the construction was not near to completion. Then they filed this complaint on 27.03.2017, complaining deficiency in service.

4. The builder filed its written reply on 19.06.2017, in which, material facts have not been denied. It has been stated that the real estate industries were facing problems of (i) Lack of adequate source of finance, (ii) shortage of labour due to MNREGA & JNURM, schemes (iii) rising of costs of materials and manpower, (iv) delay in grant of various approval by the government departments, (v) Recession in economy, (vi) extreme shortage of water in the region and (vii) shortage of bricks due to restrictions imposed by Ministry of Environment and Forest on brick kilns. Due to global slowdown of economy, Foreign Direct Investment, in real estate has been substant