As per media reports from the Free Press Journal dated today, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) directed a developer to refund ₹ 1 lakh which was paid as booking amount by the home buyer.

The complainant, Sanjiv Gill had booked a studio flat in a project at Kandivali East. The home-buyer decided not to go ahead after paying the booking amount and thus demanded a refund from the developer, citing that there was no agreement signed between both the parties.

The developer's advocate stated that the claim cannot be justified as the complainant had cancelled the booking due to his own personal reasons and not due to the default of the developer.

The RERA bench observed that the developer had acted contrary to the provisions of the Sec 3 of the RERA act and accepted the booking from the complainant without prior registering the project with MahaRERA. The order stated, "the developer registered the project with MahaRERA on August 17, 2017 and the complainant booked the flat on May 28, 2017. This shows that the action of booking the flat by the developer is void ab initio."

The bench also stated that the complainant booked the flat in the developer's project after the commencement of the RERA act, 2016. "No person shall sell or book the flat, make any purchase in any manner, any plot, apartment or building in any real estate project without registering the project with RERA," stated the order.

Hence, the authority directed the developer to refund the full booking amount of ₹ 1 lakh within a period of 30 days from the date of order. The bench also penalized the developer to pay a penalty of ₹ 50,000 for violating Sec 3 of the RERA act for selling the flat without registering it with MahaRERA.

Source