Basement parking is not a garage but forms a part of common area. NCDRC confirms that the club Area and the Basement Parking being common to all the allottees, developers are not entitled to collect charges for the same.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi in the case of Capital Greens Flat Buyer Association & Ors. vs DLF Universal Ltd. & Ors in consumer case no. 351 of 2015 on 03.01.2020 held that the Club Area and the Basement Parking being common to all the allottees. Thus, developer is not entitled to recover the charges for the same.

Facts :
DLF Universal Ltd is a developer of “DLF Capital Greens”, Moti Nagar, New Delhi. Total 2870 residential apartments in 23 residential towers have been constructed by the developer in three phases, the first and second phase comprising of 10 towers each (to be launched at the same time) and the third phase comprising of 3 towers (to be launched at later date).

Issue:
The issues before the commission was regarding the following disputes raised by the allottees:
• Club Charges,
• Car parking charges,
• Compensation in delay in offering possession,
• Force majeure circumstances.

Ratio:
The commission held that a club is meant primarily for providing sports and recreational facilities to its members would form part of the common areas and facilities.

Car Parking/ Basement Parking Charges:
As per Section 3(j) (iii) of the Delhi Apartments Ownership Act, basement is included in the definition of common areas and facilities. A basement does not lose its character merely on account of use to which it is put. Likewise, parking areas, irrespective of whether such areas are open or covered, whether they are provided on the surface or in the stilt area or in the basement would be a part of the common areas and facilities in relation to a multi-storeyed building. Similarly, a parking area is an area meant for parking of the vehicles, wherever such areas may be located.
For the reasons stated above, the commission held that the developer is not entitled to recover the charges for the club area and car parking from the allottees being common area and facility, it would be for the Association of Apartment Owners to regulate use by the allottees. It was further held that car parking charges and club charges if already paid to the developer shall be refunded to the concerned allottee within three months.

Compensation in delay in offering possession:

The Count in the present case considered that the allottee who waits for a long time for the possession of the apartments allotted to him by a developer, despite his having made payment in time either from his own savings or by raising loans undergoes a lot of mental agony and harassment on account of the said delay and the umpteen rounds he has to make to the office of the developer just to realize the fruits of his hard-earned income.

A paltry compensation of say Rs.10 per sq. ft. of the super area per month is at best a token compensation and does not provide adequate redress to the aggrieved allottee. The Commission then ordered that DLF shall pay compensation in the form of simple interest @ 7% per annum from the expected date for delivery of possession till the date on which the possession was actually offered to the allottees. In case of subsequent purchasers, the period expected for the delivery of possession will be computed from the date of purchase by them.