Telangana RERA Condemns Practice Of Developers Changing Possession Dates After Booking

The Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TGRERA) has come down hard on the practice of developers changing possession dates after buyers have already paid substantial amounts.

Calling such agreements “ex-facie one-sided, unfair, and unreasonable,” the Authority said homebuyers are often left with no real choice but to accept altered timelines inserted later in sale agreements.

A bench led by Chairperson Dr. N. Satyanarayana, with members K. Srinivasa Rao and Laxmi Narayana Jannu, said this imbalance of power is precisely what the real estate law was meant to address.

“When an allottee has already paid a substantial portion of the consideration at the stage of booking or allotment, the allottee is left with no real choice but to accept the new possession timeline inserted in the agreement for sales. Such agreements are ex-facie one-sided, unfair, and unreasonable, and this Authority condemns such practices. It is precisely to curb such asymmetry of power, lack of transparency, and exploitation of consumers that the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 was enacted.," it said.

The observations came in a complaint filed by Rizvana Begum and Mohammed Ibrahim against Pacifica Construction Pvt. Ltd. The couple booked a flat in the Aavas Hyderabad project in December 2016.

The booking form and a welcome letter promised delivery within 36 months. The expected possession date was December 26, 2019.

In January 2019, the promoter executed an unregistered agreement for sale. This document pushed the possession timeline to 60 months. The new deadline was January 3, 2024. That date also passed. The flat was still not registered or handed over. The buyers have now been waiting for nearly nine years.

Pacifica Construction opposed the complaint. It said the case was vexatious and frivolous. It argued that the 2019 agreement replaced earlier commitments. It also cited COVID-19-related extensions granted to the project's RERA registration.

The promoter further alleged that one of the complainants was a marketing agent who had earned commissions and was now pursuing vindictive litigation.

The authority rejected these arguments. It noted that the promoter failed to meet both the 2016 and 2019 timelines. It said the developer cannot rely on the later agreement as a shield to justify prolonged delay. An allottee who has waited for years, the bench said, cannot be faulted for seeking clarity before paying more.

The authority also flagged how the project was marketed. While registered as “AAVAS HYDERABAD”, it was advertised as “Aavaas by Nebula.” The bench warned that using a different name creates confusion.

"Such a practice undermines the transparency mandate of the RE (R&D) Act, 2016, has the potential to mislead prospective buyers, and runs contrary to the consumer-protection ethos enshrined in the statute," it said.

TGRERA directed the promoter to issue a clear statement of accounts. The buyers must clear legitimate dues after that. The sale deed must be executed and possession handed over within 30 days of payment. Failure to comply could invite penal action.

 For Pacifica Construction: Advocates M. Naga Deepak and V. Ravi Kiran