Proces Of Registering A Complaint Against Builders/Developers

If a homebuyer facing one of these issues such as property frauds, changes in the layout plan, possession delay, sub-standard work, construction on illegally acquired land, hidden charges, cancellation of the project, fraud at the time of booking, defaults on the agreement, forfeiture of the amount, construction without approvals, etc. can approach consumer courts. To make things easier consumer courts have started accepting the real estate cases where the purchased goods or services are even less than Rs 1 crore. You don’t need to hire a lawyer for registering a complaint in the consumer court. So, what will you do in the above situations?

Readout the below-mentioned steps carefully to avoid such issues in the future:

First, you must be a consumer. If you have purchased goods or services for your business, for example for re-selling them, you are not a consumer. But if you have purchased goods or services, like medicines, groceries, clothes, shoes, computers, laptops, mobiles, etc. for your own use or health insurance policies, you are absolutely a consumer.

Secondly, you must give notice to the construction company/developer, before filing a formal complaint and asking him to rectify the faults, defects, etc. The notice should be simple, clearly pointing out your grievances, and requesting the construction company/developer to redress the faults, defects, etc. or replace the goods or services. Normally, you should give a clear 15-30 days notice. This is to see if the other party is willing to offer compensation to compensate for the loss suffered by the homebuyers. If the developer ignores the notice then you can approach the consumer court.

If possible, you should write the notice to the nearest address available in your city so that if you have to register a complaint, it will be in the nearest consumer forum for you.

Comply with a formal complaint under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. You won’t need to hire a lawyer to file the complaint. Just fill out the complaint form and submit it to the commission. You can also mention the details of the complainant and the opposite party on a plain paper. For filling up the form, you can consult consumer grievance redressal forums which also help homebuyers in filing and forming petition at nominal charges.

You can also file the complaint online:  www.consumerhelpline.gov.in

Thirdly, the complaint must be registered within 2 years of the cause of conflict. If there are reasonable causes for delay in filing the complaint, you can request the Consumer Forum to look into the delay.

Where to register a complaint against builders/developers:

The jurisdiction, that is the Consumer Forum, where you should file your Complaint depends on the amount involved. 

Amount Involved Jurisdiction

If the claim is for less than Rs 20 lakhs, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum will hear the appeal.

If the claim is more than Rs. 20 lakhs but less than Rs. 1 crore, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission will hear the appeal.

If the claim is more than Rs 1 crore, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission will hear the appeal.

Fee Details:

The fee normally depends upon the amount involved. You have to submit the fee through a demand draft from a nationalized bank in favor of the President of the concerned District Consumer Forum (Registrar of the State or National Commission if the complaint is registered in these regions).

Before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum:

• For claims up to Rs 1 lakh = Rs. 100
• For claims from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakhs = Rs. 200
• For claims from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakhs = Rs. 400
• For claims from Rs.10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakhs = Rs. 500

Before the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission: 

• For claims from Rs.20 lakh to Rs. 50 lakhs = Rs. 2,000.
• For claims from Rs.50 lakh to Rs. 1Crore = Rs. 4,000

Before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission:

• For claims exceeding Rs. 1crore = A standard amount of Rs 5,000

Affirmation

You can get the affirmation or affidavit done before any notary public, but he will normally charge anything between Rs 100 to Rs 200. You can also affirm or affidavit before the Registrar of the concerned Forum.

Actual Filing of the Complaint

You or your advocate will have to personally register the complaint in the office of the concerned Consumer Forum.

The Consumer Forum’s office will go through the complaint and bring up deficiencies. You have to rectify them and re-submit the complaint. The Consumer Forum’s office will give you a short date for the appeal. You or your lawyer have to appear and explain the complaint on that day to show that there is a genuine consumer complaint.

Once the complaint is accepted, The Consumer Forum will guide you to submit more copies of the complaint. These will be sent to the respondents along with notice prepared by the Commission’s office.