Tiruchy builder fined for allocating separate parking space
The Commission also ordered the firm to disburse the compensation, along with the interest of 9 per cent calculated from 2008
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TIRUCHY: Tiruchy Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission directed a builder to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to a home buyer for failing to allot a parking facility within the premises of the apartment.
According to the sources, on August 22, 2008, Pamini Somasundaram from Karur bypass area in Tiruchy purchased a house on the third floor of an apartment at the same location for Rs 31.84 lakh – Rs 8.33 lakh for a parking space and Rs 23.51 lakh for the house, from John Construction functioning at Annamalai Nagar in Tiruchy.
However, the owner, Padmini, who verified the document, found that there was no allotment for parking. When she inquired with the construction firm, they demanded an additional amount of Rs 1.15 lakh for the parking slot. Padmini had handed over the money, but the construction firm had allotted an unsafe parking space as a separate unit.
Meanwhile, the residents' association that had been opposing the concept of the separate parking slot approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court to remove the separate parking slot, citing the hindrance to the free movement of the vehicles. Subsequently, as per the court's direction, the Tiruchy City Corporation removed the particular parking slot.
Frustrated over this, Padmini approached the Tiruchy District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on April 29, 2021, appealing for action and subsequent compensation. The counsels P Saravanan and SS Prabashini appeared for the petitioner Padmini.
On Friday, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission chairman, T Sekar, and the member JS Senthil Kumar, who heard the plea, ordered the construction firm to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for deficiency in service.
The Commission also ordered the firm to disburse the compensation, along with the interest of 9 per cent calculated from 2008. In addition to this, the firm was told to pay an amount of Rs 25,000 as expenditure charges, and the entire amount should be handed over within 45 days.
