SC Asks DLF to Handover 50 Panchkula Flats by November, Cuts Penal Interest Rate
The apex court cut interest rate payable to home buyers to 9 percent per annum from the 12 percent set by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
In some relief for real estate giant DLF, the apex court on Friday slashed the penal interest payable by the company to flat buyers for the delay in its Valley Project in Panchkula.
The top court asked the developer to pay buyers 9 percent interest per annum from 2014, and not the 12 percent set by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).
“This 9 percent interest will be calculated from the expiry of three years of agreement, and only if DLF fails to give possession of flats by November 2016,” Justice Dipak Mishra said in his order.
DLF had moved Supreme Court against NCDRC’s order that had pulled up the company for delay in handing over flats. The apex court’s order is limited to 50 buyers that are part of the NCDRC judgment. These buyers booked properties in DLF’s Valley Project comprising over 1,400 residential plots and flats.
DLF informed the court that they will give possession to all those who booked these properties in Panchkula by November-end. “We have already given possession for 1,300 (plots and flats). Possession for 156 buyers is remaining which will be handed over by November end,” DLF’s counsel Kapil Sibal informed the court.
The apex court has clarified that this slash in interest rate will not set a precedent for other cases that are heard in the future. Flat buyers told reporters outside the court that they are unhappy with the Supreme Court order as DLF was supposed to hand over flats by 2012. Slashing the interest rate will adversely affect the total investment made by them towards the project, they said.