HYDERABAD: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-II, Hyderabad has directed the Telangana Rajiv Swagruha Corporation Limited (TRSC) and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) to jointly pay Rs 1 lakh refund and Rs 10,000 compensation to the complainant for not returning ‘open parking’ amount deposited by her after issuing cancellation of allotment of flat.
The refund of Rs 1 lakh has to be paid along with nine% interest per annum from July 2022 till the date of order. The complainant, Ch Girija, a resident of Vanasthalipuram, paid Rs 3 lakh towards allotment of a 3 BHK flat at Bandlaguda in July 2022.
The housing corporation and HMDA issued a letter of allotment-cum confirmation to Girija and asked her to pay the balance amount by October 12, 2022 failing which the token money paid by her would be forfeited as per the terms and conditions and the allotted flat would be cancelled and re-allotted to others. However, as she was unable to make the complete payment, in March, 2023, the Rajiv Swagruha Corporation issued a notice cancelling the allotment of flat.
The corporation treated the entire Rs 4 lakh (including Rs 1 lakh for parking) paid by her as the token amount. The consumer forum noted that out of the total amount paid by the complainant only Rs 3 lakh should be treated as the token amount and the remaining Rs 1 lakh paid for open parking should be refunded along with interest. The court cited the NCDRC judgment in BK Malhotra vs. IREO Grace Realtech Pvt Ltd., & four others.
Noting deficiency in service and unfair trade practise by the opposite parties, the forum asked the two government bodies to pay the amount within 45 days from November 12.