In what would come as a relief for all home buyers who run from pillar to post to get possession of their dream flat, real estate major Ansal Properties and Infrastructures Limited has been asked to cough up a penalty of Rs 1 lakh for not providing flat to a Delhi buyer even after the company received over Rs 5 lakh from her.

Imposing the penalty, a national consumer redressal commission (NCDRC) bench headed by justice VB Gupta dismissed the petition filed by the developer against the order of the district and Haryana state consumer, calling it “frivolous”. The consumer panel also rebuked the Ansals for the unscrupulous act of taking money from customers and not handing over flats on one pretext or another.

The realty giant had reportedly not handed over the flat to Delhi resident Nidhi Jain by prolonging the litigation process and filing “frivolous” appeals.
The bench rapped the Ansals for enjoying the amount of Rs 5,31,500 deposited by the complainant toward the cost of the flat even as she “is still without a roof”.

In their appeal, the Ansals had contended that the district forum and Haryana state consumer commission’s orders were patently wrong, as the project in contention never took off due to lack of approval from the state government. Thus, Ansal Properties contended, the flat could not be handed over to Jain.

The NCDRC, however, rejected the contention saying the brochure of Ansals’ housing project, the Europa Residency at Kundli in Sonepat district of Haryana, claims to have received the state government’s approval.