Firm asked to pay around Rs 20 lakh for unfair trade practice

A consumer forum has directed a Delhi-based construction firm to pay around Rs 20 lakh to a man for not delivering him a plot, saying the company engaged in "unfair trade practice".
The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, presided by C K Chaturvedi, asked Taneja Developers and Infrastructure Ltd to pay Rs 19.5 lakh to one Nirmal Singh and held that the evidence filed by the firm was false and fabricated.
"... It appears that the opposite party (firm) acted as collection agent to collect the money from various consumers without any approval or construction activities or development at site which act clearly falls under... Unfair trade practice, which deliberately pretended to sell plot through provisional allotment printed performas and misled the consumer as well as forum too," the forum's bench, also comprising its members S R Chaudhary and Ritu Garodia, said.

The forum also said it was very much transparent from the activities of the firm and its officials that they adopted the delaying tactics for not delivering the plot to Singh, despite several requests and correspondence exchanged between them, but all efforts were in vain.
"OP is directed to refund Rs 17 lakh... And we also award Rs two lakh as compensation for harassment and Rs 50,000 as litigation charges," it said.
Singh had told the forum that he had booked a commercial space at Mohali in Punjab in provisional allotment with the firm in 2008 and had paid Rs 17 lakh for 204 sq. Yd. And was supposed to get the possession within 12 months.

The company did not develop the proposed site and on April 6, 2010, Singh received a letter regarding allotment of a plot, whose size was reduced from the size promised in the application.
Further, the firm also raised a financial demand for allotment of the plot. Aggrieved by this, Singh filed the complaint before the forum.
The firm, however, had denied the allegation made against it.