Entitlement Of Homebuyer Starts From Date Of Agreement And Not RERA Registration: Supreme Court [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court has held that period for allotment of flat to a homebuyer has to be reckoned from the date of the buyer agreement and not from the date of the registration of the project under the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA Act).

A division bench comprising Justices UU Lalit and Vineet Saran made this observation in the judgment in the case M/s Imperia Structures Ltd vs Anil Patni and another.

The Builder Buyer Agreement in the case was executed on November 30, 2013. The project was registered under the RERA on November 17, 2017. As per the agreement, the possession of the unit was to be handed over within 42 months from the date of the agreement.

Aggrieved with the non-completion of the project within the time stipulated under the agreement, the buyers approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission under the Consumer Protection Act.  The NCDRC allowed the complaint and ordered the builder to pay compensation.

Challenging the NCDRC judgment, the builder approached the Supreme Court. One of the contentions raised in the appeal was that since the RERA registration was valid till December 2020, the project could not be said to be delayed.

Rejecting this argument, the Supreme Court noted that the period for allotment had expired well before the RERA registration.

"Merely because the registration under the RERA Act is valid till 31.12.2020 does not mean that the entitlement of the concerned allottees to maintain an action stands deferred", the SC observed.

The Court further stated : "It is relevant to note that even for the purposes of Section 18(of RERA), the period has to be reckoned in terms of the agreement and not the registration".

The entitlement of the Complainants must be considered in the light of the terms of the Builder Buyer Agreements, the SC observed.

The court also rejected another argument raised by the builder that RERA barred remedies under the Consumer Protection Act. Separate report on that aspect may be read here:

Consumer Complaint By Allottee Against Builder Not Barred By RERA Act: Supreme Court [Read Judgment]

Case: IMPERIA STRUCTURES LTD. vs. ANIL PATNI [CIVIL APPEAL NO. 3581-3590 OF 2020 ]

Coram: Justices UU Lalit and Vineet Saran

Counsel: Sr. Adv Vikas Sing and Adv Priyanjali Singh

Click here to read/download the judgment