Address deficiencies in villa or face action, consumer forum tells Greater Noida

The Uttar Pradesh state consumer dispute redressal commission on Tuesday pulled up the Greater Noida authority officials for the shoddy construction work of a villa and also for harassing the allottee for over a decade by not handing over possession.

It directed the property department of the Greater Noida authority that it either needs to address all issues in a month or the chief executive officer will have to be present before the commission to answer questions on the issue.

The Greater Noida authority had on December 18, 2006, allotted a villa in Sector Omicron-2 but it did not deliver the project as per deadline. It finally offered possession of the villa in 2015 but the construction work was below standard.

Also, without delivering the house, the authority also imposed a penalty of ₹35 lakh on allottee Deepak Chauhan who finally in September 2018 had to file a case before the state consumer dispute redressal commission for justice. In 5 years of fighting the case before the state commission the Greater Noida authority is yet to address the issues.

The state commission on January 23, 2023, appointed an advocate as commissioner and ordered a site inspection. The commissioner submitted the report on January 31, 2023, after which the commission directed the authority to address the allottee’s grievance in a month or face action.

“The Greater Noida authority is working with malice against the consumer (allottee) instead of working for the welfare of the people. Even after 10 years of paying the total cost of villa, the Greater Noida authority has not offered possession. It reflects the prejudiced mentality of the authority. If the state commission’s earlier orders will not be implemented then penalty shall be imposed for violation. And commission will have to ask CEO to give explanation in future if earlier orders will not be adhered to,” said the order issued by the commission president justice Ashok Kumar.

Commission also gave a month’s time to the authority as a last opportunity to address the issue. The state directed the authority official to be present at the villa at 11am on Thursday along with applicant to note down deficiencies and address these in a month’s time.

The commission has listed the matter the matter to March 14 to take a final call on the issue.

Jitendra Bahadur Ram, manager, property department, Greater Noida authority, said, “We will comply to commission order and address the issues within a month.”