Builder asked to refund booking amount of flat to consumer

Holding a prominent builder guilty of deficiency in services, the Thane District Consumer Redressel Forum has ordered to refund 90 per cent of the amount paid by a man to book a flat in their project, along with a compensation of Rs 25,000.
The forum, presided by Umesh Jhawalikar and member N D Kadam have in their orders issued on February 1, stated that if the respondent- Lodha Group- fails to refund the 90 per cent of booking amount with an interest at the rate of 9 per cent from 2009 within a period of 3 months failing which he will pay an interest at the rate of 9 per cent till the realisation of the amount.

The complainant Kiran Mahajan of Ghodbunder Road Thane had booked a flat in the project of the Lodha Group named as 'Casa Ignis', ad-measuring 1,026 sq.Ft costing Rs 31.02 lakh. He had paid Rs 54,000 on September 24, 2009 as booking amount.
However, due to some reasons, two days later, he decided to cancel the deal and sought a refund of the booking amount of Rs 54,000. But the builder refused to refund the amount, following which Mahajan approached the consumer forum.
The builder in his defence told the forum that as the complainant had not entered into an agreement with him he cannot be treated as his consumer. He also said that as per the norms of the company, the advance amount of Rs 54,000 was forfeited on account of withdrawal of the booking of the flat.

The builder cited the relevant clause in their agreement format, which says that if the buyer withdraws from the scheme the entire booking amount would be forfeited.
However, dismissing the builder's defence, the forum ordered that the complainant be refunded an amount of Rs 48,600 with 9 per cent interest per annum from August 2009 and also a compensation of Rs 25,000 as legal expenses.