TGRERA Orders Pranith Koncepts to Refund ₹46.40L to Senior Citizen for Illegal Flat Sale

Hyderabad: The Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TGRERA) has ordered Pranith Koncepts Pvt Ltd to refund ₹46.40 lakh with interest to a homebuyer after finding that a flat was sold on an illegal seventh floor in an unregistered project.

The complainant, Byreddy Prabhakara Reddy, had booked a flat in the ‘Pranith Ambience’ project at Puppalaguda in 2020. He paid a total of ₹46.40 lakh for a flat in Block F.

However, the Authority found that Block F was not registered under RERA, making the sale unlawful. More critically, the flat was sold on the seventh floor, even though only five floors were permissible under building regulations.

TGRERA observed that the builder violated Section 3 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, by marketing and selling units in unregistered blocks. It noted that only Blocks A, C, and D of the project had valid registration, while Blocks including F were being sold illegally without approvals.

Despite promising to hand over the flat by August 2024, construction of Block F remained incomplete. Only two floors had been built, with no approvals in place. The Authority ruled that in such circumstances, delivery of possession was neither feasible nor legally permissible.

Invoking provisions of the Act, the Authority directed the builder to: - Refund ₹46.40 lakh to the complainant - Pay interest at 10.70% per annum - Calculate interest from the dates of payment - Complete the refund within 60 days

It warned that failure to comply would invite penal action.

The Authority clarified that claims for ₹10 lakh compensation for mental agony and ₹40,000 monthly rent fall under the jurisdiction of the Adjudicating Officer. The complainant has been given liberty to pursue these claims separately.

The order also highlighted that the same developer had earlier been penalised over ₹43.71 lakh in similar cases involving unregistered blocks in the same project.

The Authority took note that the complainant, a 73-year-old retired individual, had invested his life savings in the project and suffered financial loss and mental distress due to the builder’s actions. The ruling underscores the importance of regulatory oversight and serves as a caution to homebuyers against investing in unregistered real estate projects.