SC 'Homebuyers can seek compensation for delayed possession after taking flats'

The Supreme Court has said that a homebuyer can seek adjudication of a claim for compensation for the delay in the delivery of a flat even after taking possession.

The apex court set aside a 2016 order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), which held that the appellant was not a consumer at the time of filing the complaint alleging a deficiency in service on account of the delay in handing over possession of the flat, since



he had already taken possession without protest.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and V Mohana passed the order on a plea by a homebuyer who became a member of a cooperative group housing society in Delhi in January 2003 and was allotted a flat, challenging the NCDRC’s order.

The top court observed that a claim for compensation for delayed possession necessarily arises from the period prior to the actual delivery of possession.