NARENDER GUPTA Vs. DLF LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Consumer Complaint is filed under Section 21(a)(i) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (for short "the Act") by the Complainant against the Opposite Party seeking the following reliefs:-

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the first Opposite Party is a public limited Company incorporated and registered under the provisions of the Companies Act, and having its registered office at 3rd Floor Shopping Mall, Arjun Marg DLF City, Phase-I GURGAON; second to seventh Opposite Parties are the Whole Time Directors of the first Opposite party and are responsible for day to day affairs of the first Opposite Party Company (hereinafter collectively referred to as "DLF Ltd."); Eighth opposite party is a public limited company incorporated and registered under the provisions of the Companies Act and is a land owning party to the execution of Apartment Buyer's Agreement; ninth opposite party is a Confirming party to the Apartment Buyer's Agreement.

(3.) It is averred that DLF Ltd. claimed to have obtained license from the Director, Town and Country Planning Haryana, for construction and development of a residential project which comprises of inter-alia flats, known as "DLF CREST" situated in Sector-54 DLF Phase V Gurgaon, Haryana; based on the assurances and promises made by the DLF Ltd. the Complainant applied for allotment of a residential flat in their project known as "DLF CREST situated in Sector-54 DLF Phase V Gurgaon, by filing an Application and also made payment of Rs.25,93,000/- vide cheque No.267119 dated 16.5.2013. This payment was acknowledged by DLF Ltd. and the date of application was intimated as 21.5.2013; that DLF Ltd. forwarded an Apartment Buyers Agreement for execution; the Agreement was executed for flat No CTC-183 in the project DLF CREST" and the terms and conditions along with payment schedule formed part of the buyers agreement; till which time DLF Ltd. had already collected a huge amount of Rs.132 lacs from the complainant; the total cost of the flat was estimated to be Rs.6.5 crores; the conditions of the Agreement on a plain reading clearly demonstrate unreasonable conditions imposed by DLF Ltd. on unsuspecting consumers who have no recourse except to sign the Agreement; the Complainant on Receipt of the Agreement found that there were numerous clauses in the Agreement which were totally one sided, unreasonable i.e. Clause 17(i) of the Agreement provided that if the Agreement was not signed on the dotted line and returned within 30 days of receiving the Agreement, an amount of approximately Rs.132 lakh paid till that time by the Complainant would be forfeited by DLF Ltd. and hence the Complainant was left with no option but to sign the Agreement and send it back; that the contract of DLF Ltd. is a standard form of pre-printed contract; the amount agreed was Rs.1000/- per sq. ft. for 3479 sq. ft. which was the agreed area of the flat at that time; that DLF Ltd. vide its letter dated 16.2.2015 raised the amount of on time payment rebate from earlier Rs.1000/- per sq. ft. to Rs.1500- per sq. ft.; DLF Ltd. through its letter dated 12.11.2014 informed that they wished to make changes in the layout; the Complainant sought a written commitment from DLF Ltd. that this change would not adversely affect the interest of the Complainant; DLF Ltd. vide its letter dated 12.11.2014 confirmed that the Complainant would in no way be affected by the modification in the size, location of the property; DLF Ltd. never informed the Complainant about any increase in the area even before the date of last demand dated 19.1.2018; the Complainant made all the payments to the opposite party as per the demands raised from time to time with or without interest; on 8.11.2017 the Complainant received a confirmation from DLF Ltd. that all the payments, including interest are paid which were due till that date; that on 30.12.2017 the Complainant received a letter from DLF Ltd. informing him that the project has been completed and they were working on the final touches; it was also mentioned that they intended offer possession in a phased manner from a future date; on 19.1.2018 DLF Ltd. sent a letter to complete the payment formalities along with submission of various documents and outstanding payments as per the demand letter; the Complainant observed the following anomalies in the demand letter and also in the documents attached with the demand letter:-