CCI Projects Ltd will have to pay interest on late possession says MahaRERA.

Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) dismissed the developer’s argument that, since home buyers continued to pay even after the promised date of occupancy had passed, they had “acquiesced” and agreed to the delay in possession.

In three separate orders, MahaRERA’s Bhalchandra Kapadnis has advised developer CCI Projects Ltd, to pay interest on deferred possession following the completion of the continuous six months’ COVID based moratorium by granting significant relief for more than 20 home buyers from Rivali Park project in Borivali.

The Wintergreen Rivali Park Project has been deferred for over three years. The CCI Projects Ltd developer has obtained the last mile of funding from the Rs 20,000 crore stress fund set up by Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman for the project. Five Mumbai developers including CCI Projects Ltd received financial support last month. The builder had extended the date of possession to December 2019 and now it extended it further to 30 June 2021.

Since the project was already delayed, many homeowners have filed complaints about relief. Yet some of these buyers continued to pay the rest for the flat, even though their registered contracts lapse on the date of possession.

Kapadnis noted that payments were structured in a slab-wise pattern and the complainants were ineffective and continued to pay in the hope of early ownership despite considerable investments.

Therefore, the action of the complainants is not acquiescence. In my view, the consent of the allottees in respect of a condoning of the delay shall be unambiguous and must be in writing as the statute stipulates that the clear duty for finishing the project according to the timeline is enforced and speaks of the repercussions of the delay.