DELHI: In yet another example of its crackdown on developers who delay projects, the Supreme Court has ordered real-estate developer Unitech to refund money to 39 homebuyers who had invested in the company’s Gurgaon housing project.

The court ordered Unitech to refund Rs 17 Crores to the homebuyers. The company had already deposited Rs 15 Crores with the court and will have to come up with another Rs 2 Crores within 4 weeks.

The order was given as the court heard complaints filed by 39 homebuyers against Unitech for delaying delivery of its Vistas project in Gurgaon. The project was supposed to have been completed in 2012, but remains under construction.

Unitech offered to complete the flats and hand over possession by April next year. However, the court rejected the offer and slammed the company’s record of late deliveries stating that “A property developer has to live up to the terms of contract and gain the trust of people so that people can dream of getting their houses. If the faith is lost, everything is lost.”

The order comes just a day after the court ordered another Delhi-based builder, Parsvnath Developers, to refund Rs 22 Crores to homebuyers who had invested in its Exotica project.

The amount covers the principal amount that these homebuyers had paid to Unitech and they will start getting the refunds in the next few days. The court has still not made a decision on interest payment on the invested amount and will likely take it up in January.

Reported by- Chanakya Bhatia
Edited by – Nikhil Narayan Sivadas