NCDRC directs DDA to deliver possession of flat along with Rs 1 lakh fine

The apex consumer commission has directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to deliver the possession of a flat to a customer that was allotted in 2001 and pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation for the delay in transferring the ownership.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) upheld the orders passed by the State and the District consumer fora, which had directed the DDA to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh along with the litigation charges to Telangana resident Mukul Srivastava, who first sought legal remedy in 2006, for having caused him "mental agony, harassment and sheer suffering".

The NCDRC called it a case of "individual suffering" at the hands of "bureaucratic inefficiency" and said that the "entire sequence of events constitute deficiency in service" for which the DDA was "squarely responsible".

"We are convinced that this is yet another case of an individual suffering at the hands of bureaucratic inefficiency, indifference and apathy," said a bench of Presiding member Anup K Thakur and member C Viswanath.

Srivastava's mother was allotted a flat in Sector-22, Rohini and was asked to deposit Rs 3,78,080 by December 12, 2001. She had applied for a transfer of allotment of the flat in favour of her son on November 28, 2001.

However, the transfer of allotment was not done till May, 2006. The DDA, later issued a demand letter dated June 22, 2006 directing Srivastava to deposit a sum of Rs 3,81,861.50 towards cost of the Flat, which he duly deposited on July 28, 2006, along with all the requisite documents.

However, the DDA further demanded a sum of Rs 3,83,468 in August that year towards interest, restoration charges, late submission of documents, ground-rent surcharge and difference of conversion charges along with processing fee.

The Tribunal noted that this was a very simple case of transfer of flat within the members of a family, clearly covered by the DDA guidelines.

"As per DDA's own Citizens Charter, the transfer of flat has to be affected within 60 days, whereas in the present case, it has still not reached its finality, despite Srivastava supplying various documents demanded routinely and approaching various authorities like Central Information Commission, Lok Adalat, District Forum and State Commission," the Tribunal said.

The bench said that the DDA is clearly responsible for all the delay that has occurred so far.

"Different documents have been sought from Srivastava on different dates, some of which are not required and relevant. Despite his best efforts, the DDA puts the blame squarely on him and levies interest, which is more than the original cost of the flat, which he refuses to pay," the bench said.

The court noted that Srivastava had been cooperating all through but at the same time, he had been "seeking justice" and was "not prepared to succumb to the undue and unjust demands of the DDA".

However, the DDA claimed that Srivastava had not furnished the required documents within the stipulated time.