Haryana RERA Directs Emaar MGF To Pay 10.85% Interest To Homebuyer For Six-Year Delay In Possession

The Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has held that Emaar MGF Land failed to meet its contractual obligation to hand over a flat in its Emerald Floors Premier Phase III project in Gurugram on time, and directed the developer to pay delayed possession interest at 10.85% per annum from 28 May 2014 until the offer of possession plus two months or the actual handover, whichever is earlier.

A coram of Member Ashok Sangwan ruled that the builder had not complied with section 11(4)(a) read with section 18(1) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act.

The complaint was filed by a homebuyer who had booked a 1,650 sq. ft. flat on the third floor of Tower 37 in Sector 65, Gurugram. The flat, priced at about Rs 1.15 crore, was booked in 2011 after the builder advertised the project, showed the site and layout, and later issued a provisional allotment letter.

The homebuyer ultimately paid about Rs 1.23 crore. A Builder Buyer Agreement was executed on 28 February 2012, under which Emaar was required to hand over the flat within 24 months, with a three-month grace period, making 28 May 2014 the contractual deadline.

The homebuyer said they continued paying as per demands raised and repeatedly followed up when possession was not offered on the promised date. In 2018, the builder asked them to sign a settlement-cum-amendment agreement, assuring that the unit was ready or would be ready shortly.

The buyer signed it under protest because they were only concerned with timely possession. Even after this, the builder did not hand over the unit. The occupation certificate was eventually obtained on November 11, 2020, and the offer of possession was sent a week later on November 18, 2020, accompanied by what the buyer described as several unreasonable additional charges and defects in the unit. The conveyance deed was executed on June 21, 2021.

Relying on the dates in the Builder Buyer Agreement, the authority held that the developer had clearly missed the stipulated possession deadline and was liable to pay delayed possession interest at the prescribed rate. It rejected the buyer's plea for a refund of allegedly illegal or unreasonable charges, noting that such claims cannot be raised after execution of the conveyance deed because all financial liabilities are deemed to have been settled at that stage.

Click Here To Read/Download Order