by THO
The Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has penalized the real estate firm, Vatika Limited, with more than ₹6 lakh for violating the builder-buyer agreement provisions and directed the promoter to execute the BBA within a month.
“The Authority establishes the violation of Section 13 of the Act 2016 on part of Vatika Limited and hereby imposes a penalty under Section 61 of ₹1,00,000 in each complaint and further directs the promoter to execute the registered buyer’s agreement as per the model agreement provided in the Real Estate Regulation and Development Rules 2017 within 30 days from the order failing which the Authority shall be bound to invoke penal action under Section 63,” the order passed by judge S K Arora said.
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Section 13 states that a promoter shall not accept more than 10% of the total cost of an apartment, plot, or building as the case may be as advance payment or an application fee from a person without first entering into a written agreement for sale with such person and register the said agreement for sale.
“Whereas, in the instant matter the respondent (Vatika Limited) has taken 100 per cent of the consideration without executing the BBA,” order said.
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The court also has imposed a penalty of ₹25,000 in each complainant to be paid within 30 days from the date of this order under Section 63 of the Act 2016 for non-complying the directions of the Authority vide its order dated February 23, 2024, the order said.
The five complainants cum allottees had approached Gurugram RERA in October 2022 seeking justice after they failed to get relief from Vatika Limited. The complainants had booked commercial units in Vatika India Next project in 2018 and paid full consideration to the promoter without executing the builder-buyer agreement (BBA).
A year later, Vatika transferred their units without their consent to a different project Vatika One on one at Sector 16, Gurugram and also reduced the unit sizes to 500 sq ft from original size of 1000 sq ft, the order said.
In a relief to complainants, the RERA court has also directed Vatika Limited to pay interest for every month of delay from the due date of possession till valid offer of possession at the prescribed rate.
Responding to the order, a spokesperson of Vatika Ltd said that, “The company will appeal this order because all the facts of the case and the company’s representations have not been considered.”
