I along with my wife booked for a Villa to be made in Greater Noida(UP) in April,2011.The builder's registered office is in Delhi while their corporate office is in Noida.Now more than five years have passed since we booked but we have not been offered the possession of Villa yet.At present work is stalled for last over eight months and only basic structure of Villa is erected.We have already made @95% payment of the total cost of Villa by December,2013.The builder has been continuously extending the date of delivery.According to the latest coresspondence with the builder he gave the probable date of offer for the possession of Villa by December,2017(+/-6 months) in writing through mail.As per Builder's Buyer Agreement he promised to give possession within 24(+/- 6 months) from the date of start of construction in my tower (which in my case is a block for Villas).I,therefore, seek the valued counsel of my learned and esteemed friends from law fraternity on following points.
1) The total cost of Villa is 67,000,00/-Rs including the service tax and We have made payment for @95% which is almost 63,65,000/-Rs by Dec.,2013.Now considering the value of Villa which is less than a crore,should I approach the National Consumer Court or the State Commission.
2)Do We need to give a prior notice to my builder before approaching the Consumer Court and if We decide to give notice,then should We send it through e mail or the registered post.
3) We have a photograph taken in November,2013 of the Villa posted by the builder on it's facebook page to show the progress of construction in the project.Can this photograph be used as a testimonial of the date of start of construction in my particular block.
4)Where should We file case in the consumer court,in Delhi where the builder has it's registered office or Lucknow as the project is situated at Gr Noida(Uttar Pradesh).
5)We booked for this Villa in the first week of April,2011 but the agreement was signed by the builder only in April,2013 while the construction began in September,2013.The construction in this area was stalled after the Allahabad HC ruling which was cleared by August,2012 and the Greater Noida Auth.also gave permission in September,2012 to the builder in writing to resume the construction which builder didn't comply.He sold a land parcel of apprx 26 acres out of the total 90 acres to another builder and changed the layout completely.The total no. of Villas were drastically reduced from 1000 plus to mere 376.They bifurcated the project into two parts while the part-I was made Villa project and part-II was made highrise towers having more than 60 towers of 25 plus stories.They also introduced basement under the Villas and in process virtually converted these Villas into low rise apartments.The original plan of providing 50 acres of open area(mentioned in the brochure) was hugely compromised since the builder drastically changed the original layout without taking our consent. This builder has another Villa project in the same vicinity where around 30 families have already shifted.But the builder has not taken either the completion certificate or the occupation certificate from the authority for this project till this date. Now considering these above mentioned facts what strategy should We adopt? Should We ask for the straight away refund of my deposits with @18%/@24@ interest or should We ask builder to shift Our Villa to this almost ready to shift project which does not have either cc or oc.
6)We sold our flat in order to buy this Villa and as a result We have paid more than 10 lakhs Rs as rent during last almost five years.The builder had mentioned in the agreement that they would pay a penalty for the late delivery at the rate of @5/-per sq ft of super area(2450x5=12250/-) per month till he gives possession.But this penalty will be paid only at the time of possession as per agreement.Should We also demand from builder for reimbursing this amount.
We would really appreciate if we could get the learned member's valued opinion on my case.
Chandrakant
