Distressed home buyer in Bengaluru approaches National Human Rights Commission against builder
BENGALURU: Agonised over neither getting his completed home nor the compensation ordered by a regulatory court, a distraught home buyer has approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking justice.
The NHRC has written to the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) asking them to take appropriate action.
The SHRC, in turn, has ordered the Deputy Commissioner (Bengaluru Urban) to submit a report to it before January 9, 2025, on the action taken to help the home buyer.
This is a very rare instance of a home buyer approaching the NHRC with a complaint stating, “The delay is not just a breach of trust but also a violation of our fundamental right to a dignified life.”
The project in question is Mantri Developers `Mantri Energia’, the first residential complex permitted to be built inside the Manyata Tech Park in Hebbal. It was planned to be six towers with 18 floors for each of them. A total of 832 flats had been planned with wonderful amenities.
Among the 300-odd people who have purchased a flat from the developer is Amrita Sudhakar. Her family has paid Rs 78 lakh, which works out to 90% of the cost of their 3BHK apartment here.
Husband, Sudhakar Lakshmanaraja, an independent consultant in the IT industry, told TNIE, “We had made our payment by August 2018 and were promised the handover by the builder by December 2019. We have repeatedly approached their Customer Care office inside the Tech Park only to get false assurances that the apartment would be ready within three months. Fed up, we approached the Karnataka-Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) in February 2021 and a verdict was given in our favour within 12 months.” The RERA team which inspected Mantri Energia reported that just 52% of the project has been completed.
He added that Mantri Developers was ordered to pay compensation every year amounting to 10% of the amount paid by the home buyer. This dates from January 2020 until the project is completed. “This alone works out to Rs 39 lakh as of date. The builder has not paid us anything so far,” the IT consultant said.
The recovery process of verdicts issued by RERA is done by the Deputy Commissioner. “The file is pending with the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru North for two years now,” he explained.
Work has come to a standstill at the project. “Only the skeletal structure of the apartments has been completed. Not one house is in a condition to be occupied,” Lakshmanaraja added.
Finding no solution in sight, he finally approached the NHRC citing “severe mental and emotional distress” he and his wife were facing due to the incomplete house. While some buyers have filed cases with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, some have filed cases at different courts in Bengaluru.