Written Submission format NCDRC

Format of Written Submission NCDRC.

BEFORE THE NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, NEW DELHI

CONSUMER COMPLAINT NO. _____ OF 20________

IN THE MATTER OF:

________ COMPLAINANTS
VERSUS
M/S ________ OPPOSITE PARTY

WRITTEN SUBMISSION ON BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINANTS
I. That Complainants have filed the complaint under section 12 (1) (a) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as 'Act 1986'), against the unfair trade practices, as defined under section 2 (1) (r) of the Act, 1986, adopted by the Opposite Party � namely M/s ________ (hereinafter 'the builder/ developer') and gross deficiency in services agreed to be given by the Opposite Party and not delivering the possession of property for which payment is made. The Complainants are covered within the ambit of Section 2 (1) (b) (i) of the Act as 'Complainants', and are consumer within the scope of Section 2 (1) (d) of the Act 1986.

That by order dated ___________ this Hon'ble Commission has permitted the parties to file Written Submissions and fixed v as the next date of hearing.

1) That in _________ the Opposite Party issued an advertisement for the project namely ___________, in various news papers, print media and through other means, luring/representing buyers with a promise of developing and constructing a World Class residential project with all modern facilities.
2) That in the month of ___________ the Complainants had booked the Apartment in question of an area admeasuring ___________ sq. meters (___________ sq ft.), for 'residential use', at the property located at Apartment No. ___________ for Rs. ________/-. The Complainants had invested their hard earned money in the said project and also taken loan of Rs. ________/- from Banks, after they were given tall promises of a world class living destination by the Opposite Party, having all modern facilities and best in class construction within the promised timeline of 36 months (on or before 22nd July, ___________) or after a grace period of 6 months on or before 22nd January ___________.

3) That the Complainants paid sum of Rs ________ (Rs ___________) as an advance amount vide cheque No. ___________ dated ___________ for Rs. ________/- and Cheque No.___________ dated ___________ for Rs. ________/- both drawn on ___________ on account of the advance booking against the unit No. ___________ in project floated by the Opposite Party.

4) That the Opposite Party thereafter issued an allotment letter dated ___________ with Details of consideration and Construction linked Payment Plan, in favour of the Complainants; whereby the Opposite Party allotted one apartment in favour of Complainants bearing unit reference number ___________ for a total consideration of Rs. ________/- (________).

5) That the Opposite Party through its authorised signatories Mr. ________________ and Mr. ________entered into an agreement with the Complainants and signed the Apartment Buyer's Agreement on ___________

6) That the Complainants accepted the Construction Linked Installment Payment Plan, and have paid 100% of the total sum including Taxes and other charges, that is, Rs. ________/- (Rupees ________) as per the details mentioned below.
____________________ ______________________ __________

7) That as per clause 3(a) of the aforementioned Apartment Buyer's Agreement dated ___________, the Opposite Party promised to deliver the Apartment within a period of 36 months, from the date of signing of agreement i.e. ___________. The Opposite Party claimed a further grace period of 6 months for Tower A to I. Therefore, as per the terms of the agreement, the Opposite Party was duty bound to deliver possession of the said Apartment within 36 months i.e. by ___________.

8) That on ___________ the Complainants wrote to the Opposite Party and informed that he has already paid Rs. ________for Unit No. ___________ and nothing was outstanding on their part.

9) That on ___________ was the due date for handling over the possession of Apartment i.e. after 36 months of agreement. The Opposite Party did not hand over the possession of Apartment and did not inform the status of construction to the Complainants.

10) That on ___________ the Opposite Party raised further demand without completing Internal Plumbing (GI/CI) within the apartment. The Complainants sought clarification and asked the Opposite Party to allow the Complainants to verify status of construction of the Project or send photos of the constructed Apartment. The Opposite Party did not respond to the request of Complainants.

11) That on ___________ was the second due date (after grace period of 6 Months) for handing over the possession of apartment. The Opposite Party failed in handing over the possession of the Apartment even by this date also. The Opposite Party did neither inform the Complainants about the status of construction work nor did they inform about the expected date of completion of work and delivery of possession of the Apartment in question.

12) That from ___________ the Complainants who had paid 90% of the cost by that time, asked the Opposite Party to waive off the huge interest being levied on them. Also as the Opposite Party raised the demand under the head on Completion of Internal Plumbing (GI/CO) within Apartment, the Complainants asked for the evidence on completion of the aforesaid work so as to enable him to release the payment. But the Complainants received threatening phone calls / mails and unethical practices and harassment from the Opposite Party who didn't produce any evidence to this effect and continue to charge 18% interest compounded quarterly. Under harassment the Complainants had to make payment. Further the Opposite Party did not inform when asked for the status of construction, reason of delay and actual date of possession.

13) That on ___________ the Complainants wrote to the Opposite Party and asked for the details of completion of GI/CI Plumbing in the apartment which the Opposite party promised to give 'shortly' on ___________ but not provided to the Complainants.

14) That on ___________ the Complainants wrote the Opposite Party while reminding them of his earlier request of ___________ wherein he had asked to know about the status of GI/CI plumbing work. But the Opposite Party did not respond to it.

15) That on ___________ the Opposite Party sent letter of Final offer for possession after a delay of ___________ months from the first stipulated date of possession i.e. ___________ and after a delay of ___________ months from the second stipulated date of possession i.e. ___________, after a grace period of six months.

16) That on ___________ the Complainants through their counsels served a legal notice to the Opposite Party showing that till ___________ the Complaints have paid Rs. ________/- to the Opposite Party and requested to hand over the possession of the property and waive off the interest charged on them. Since the Opposite Party is not ready to wave off the interest amount, they are also liable to pay interest @18% p.a. compounded quarterly to the Complainants. i.e. the same rate of interest being charged by the Opposite Party for delayed payment, for the period of delay in offering possession of the Property. The Complainants claimed Rs. ________/- towards interest for the delayed period of possession from the Opposite Party along with compensation for delayed period of offering possession @ Rs. 5 per sq. ft.. The Opposite Party did not respond to the legal notice and maintained their demand for accumulated compound interest.

17) That the Complainants paid Rs. ________/- to the Opposite Party i.e. on ___________ Rs. ________/-, on ___________ Rs. ________, on ___________ Rs. ________/-, on ___________ Rs. ________/- and on ___________ Rs. ________/-. These amounts pertain to Adhoc charges, electricity connection charges, charges to be paid at the time of notice for possession, miscellaneous charges for registration, club charges, advance maintenance charges etc which the Opposite Party cannot claim before actual delivery of possession. But they insisted the Complainants to pay it and the Complainants paid it under protest. As on ___________ the Complainants have paid total demand of Rs. ________/- to the Opposite Party.

18) That as per the records of the Opposite Party, they are claiming an amount of Rs. ________on ___________ towards interest on outstanding amount for the period from ___________ to ___________ @ 18% being compounded quarterly. Despite paying an amount of Rs. ________/- towards the total cost of Apartment , the Opposite Party is still charging non-stop interest on interest @ 18% being compounded quarterly.

19) That although possession of the Apartment had not handed over to the Complainants, yet, the Opposite party had already collected Maintenance Charges in Advance. i.e. on ___________ the Opposite Party has collected Rs. ________/- towards club charges, Rs. ________/- towards advance maintenance charges and on ___________ Rs. ________/- towards advance maintenance charges from the Complainants. The Opposite Party also collected Rs. ________/- on ___________ towards interest free maintenance Security (IFMS).

20) That the Opposite Party also raised demand for Common Area Electricity Charges. All such charges should be payable by the Complainants from the date of actual possession only and not before that because in this case the possession of the Apartment is lying with the Opposite Party only and not with the Complainants and moreover the Opposite Party is deliberately keeping the Complainants away from their Apartment. As such the Maintenance Charges, Club Charges and Common Charges are not payable by the Complainants before the date of actual possession of the Apartment.
21) That the amount of Maintenance and Club charges already collected by the Opposite Party from the complainants should be adjusted against the future payments falling due from the date of actual possession of the Apartment and not before that because the Complainants are not liable for any such payment before actual possession of the Apartment. The Complainants are not liable to make payment of Common Charges before actual possession of Apartment. The Opposite Party has illegally charged this amount before giving possession of the property and hence they should be restrained from making any such demand.

22) That the Complainants have availed loan of Rs. ________/-from ___________ Bank to pay purchase cost to the Opposite Party and are paying interest also for the same. The loan initially taken from Citibank, then it shifted to Standard Chartered Bank and in ___________ it changed to ___________ Ltd. The Opposite Party do not have the right to claim interest on delayed payment as they have never allowed the Complainants to check progress of construction as the payment plan is construction linked and the Opposite Party has already delayed the Possession of the Property by 24 months.

23) That the Opposite Party cannot enjoy the privilege of putting first the Complainants into a disadvantageous situation and then driving benefit out of it at the same time, that is to say - (1) By raising demand from the Complainants as per the Construction Linked Payment Plan but at the same time denying the access of the Complainants to their allotted apartment in the project for their inspection. (2) By prolonging completion of Project and also denying the delivery of possession of Apartment even after completion of Project despite receipt of full payment of Rs ________/- from the Complainants at the same time. (3) By raising demand of 18% quarterly compounded Interest from the Complainants for the period of delay actually being caused by the Opposite Party in delivery of possession of the fully paid Apartment. (4) By causing huge financial loss to the Complainants as they had been paying rent outside and also could not earn any rental income by letting out their Apartment in part / full. (5) By forcing the Complainants to pay interest on the same amount for the same period at different rates to two different parties simultaneously i.e. to the Bank as well as the Opposite Party.

24) That the Complainant's representative/s visited the office of the Opposite Party but the Opposite Party failed to justify such illegality and its Unfair Trade Practices. The Complainants made many requests on several occasions to the opposite party to waive off the quarterly compounded interest of 18 % calculated by them in a non-transparent way without considering the construction linked payment plan and keeping the Complainants always in dark. But they refused to waive off the amount of such interest.

25) That on ___________ the Complainants wrote to the Opposite Party and informed that there is no outstanding reflecting in the ledger except the interest calculated by the opposite parties. Despite the Opposite Party denying reasonable requests to allow inspection of the Apartment during the course of construction, the complainants continued to pay installments under protest. They requested to Opposite Party to handover possession of the Apartment immediately. But the Opposite party refused to give possession of the Apartment and said that interest reflecting in the statement is also the part of the dues which the Complainants need to clear as same has been already been discussed in our earlier emails and also in the meeting of Complainants representative with Managing Director of Opposite Party.

26) That on ___________ the Opposite party is liable to pay to the Complainants an amount of Rs. ________/- (________) towards interest for the delayed period of offering possession of the property, calculated with the same interest rate i.e. 18% quarterly compounded interest as is being charged by the Opposite Party from the Complainants. Calculation sheet of interest is as under:
________________________ ______________________ _________________
27) That the Opposite Party mentally harassed the Complainants by delaying the project, by not allowing the Complainants to check status / progress of construction, continuously demanding installments even without completing the project till bench mark, continuously demanding interest for the imaginary delay in payment in non-transparent way and refusing to hand over the possession of the Apartment with absurd arguments even after completing construction.

28) That as per the terms of the Agreement, the Opposite Party was duty bound to deliver the possession of the said Apartment within 36 months i.e. by 22nd ___________, but the construction has been purposely delayed by the Opposite Party in the greed of getting higher prices of property and now the Opposite Party has opted to mis-interpret the facts before this Hon'ble Commission by stating that the Complainants have booked this Flat with commercial interest. The Complainants have already declared their status and position clearly in the Complaint that Complainants have no house of their own till date and have been living in rental accommodations for which they are paying heavy rent. It is further submitted that the Complainant No. 1 while employed at Gurgaon, had booked this Apartment at Gurgaon in the year 2012 for residential purpose and the Complainant No. 2 is a house wife. The Complainants in Para 25(4) of the Complaint have stated that delay in getting possession of the property have caused huge financial loss to the complainants as Complainants have been paying rent. To clarify this, it is submitted that when the Complainants booked the flat at Gurgaon Complainant No. 1 was working in Gurgaon only and at that time the Complainants were staying in a rental accommodation, for which heavy rent was being paid by them. Had the Opposite party given possession of Apartment by the agreed date, the Complainants would have saved that rental expenditure by staying in their own flat at Gurgaon. Thereafter the Complainants got shifted to Pune from Gurgaon due to change in employment and where also Complainants were paying rent for their stay in a rental accommodation. That if the Opposite Party would have given the possession of property on the agreed date, the Complainants after their temporary shift to Pune, would have got the opportunity to let out the property at Gurgaon to someone for residential purpose for a short period till they shift back to Gurgaon. This way the rent earned by them at Gurgaon would have compensated the rent which they were paying for rental accommodation at Pune. The Opposite Party is well aware and has been addressing the Complainants at their Delhi and Pune addresses. But these facts have been mischievously twisted and crooked by the Opposite Party to their convenience in such a way, as if the Complainants had booked a property with commercial interest and has gone to the extent of challenging the jurisdiction of the Hon'ble Commission. The Opposite party has even ignored the fact that they have sold a Residential Property to the Complainants and not the Commercial one.

29) That for the purposes of adjudication of the present Complaint, it is imperative to state that the rights of buyers and liabilities of Opposite Party are to be construed with a combined reading of the Consumer Protection Act 1986, the Apartment Buyer's Agreement and allotment Letter.

30) That the Complainants as well as their representative have time and again requested the Opposite Party for overcoming 'deficiency in services' as mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs, but they have not listened or responded positively to the request of the Complainants.

31) That this Hon'ble Commission has jurisdiction to adjudicate the present Consumer Complaint in view of the issues raised herein and the provisions of the Act, 1986.

III. In view of the submissions made in the Paragraphs I, II and III above it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Commission may graciously be pleased to;

a. Direct the Opposite Party to pay an amount of Rs. ________ (________) towards interest @ 18% quarterly compounded (i.e. the same rate of interest being charged by the Opposite Party) for the delayed period of possession of the apartment in question;
b. Direct the Opposite Party to pay an amount of Rs. ________/- (________) to the Complainants on account of the undue harassment, torture and exploitation caused to them;

c. Direct the Opposite Party to pay compensation calculated @ Rs. 5/- per Sq. Ft. Per Month of the super area of the said flat/ apartment as per Clause 3.C.iii of the agreement;

d. Direct the Opposite Party to reimburse the Complainants the entire amount of litigation expenses;

e. Direct the Opposite Party to refund Rs. ________/- towards excess stamp duty charged from the Complainants;

f. Direct the Opposite Party to refund Rs. ________/- towards excess sale price charged from the Complainants;

g. Direct the Opposite Party to refund Rs. ________/- towards excess amount charged in the name of Registration charges from the Complainants;

h. Pass any other and further relief which this Hon'ble Commission thinks fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case in favour of the Complainants and against the Opposite Party.

Filed by:

________
Dated: ( ______________________ )
Advocate