MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has mandated two builder firms to refund Rs 1.05 crore with interest to a couple for failing to deliver their flat after full payment and selling it to someone else.
In a ruling delivered last week, the commission observed that the complainants, having invested their life savings in the Mumbai project, underwent a “prolonged and egregious ordeal lasting over a decade”.
The decision was made ex parte, as the builders—Universal Housing & Infrastructure and Universal Construction, along with managers Saquib Shaikh Ahmed Mukadam and Sajid Shaikh Ahmed Mukadam—did not respond to the commission.
According to the couple, the husband worked as an accountant for a company in Kuwait, while the wife taught at a junior college in Raigad. They paid Rs 40 lakh in 2013 to reserve a flat in the builders’ “Dongri Project”. When construction stalled beyond the promised 36 months, the builders persuaded them to switch to a different project named “Bay View” in Mazgaon.
By September 2018, the couple had paid the full sale price of Rs 90 lakh, only to later find that the flat assigned to them had already been sold to a third party.
When they confronted the builders, those responsible offered a refund. However, the cheques frequently bounced due to insufficient funds, according to their complaint.
The builders signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in June 2021, acknowledging a total liability of Rs 1.25 crore, of which only Rs 20 lakh was paid in 2023, leaving the couple still owed the balance.
The consumer commission concluded that the builders’ conduct displayed “gross abuse of trust” and constituted both a service deficiency and unfair trade practices.
The commission stated, “The builders not only deprived the complainants of their hard-earned life savings but also engaged in a systematic pattern of deceit, marked by unfulfilled promises, arbitrary project shifts, and the repeated issuance of worthless cheques.”
The commission emphasized the “significant emotional and physical toll” on the complainants, who had to make repeated journeys over 150 km from Mangaon to the builders’ offices in Mumbai, only to encounter evasive responses and broken promises. The blatant sale of their assigned flat to another party illustrated a “mala fide approach that goes beyond mere service deficiency, amounting to acute harassment and unjust enrichment,” noted the commission.
The commission has directed the builders to refund Rs 1.5 crore to the couple, plus 10% annual interest calculated from June 2021.
The builders are also required to pay Rs 50,000 for the severe mental anguish and financial stress inflicted, alongside Rs 25,000 for legal costs.
