HRERA Orders Ocus Skyscrapers to Pay 10.8% Interest for Delayed Possession

The Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority has ordered Ocus Skyscrapers Realty to pay 10.8% annual interest to a buyer over delayed possession of a commercial unit in Ocus 24K, Sector 68, Gurugram.

The possession was due in December 2018 under the buyer's agreement. The occupation certificate was issued only in July 2019, and possession was offered the following day. HRERA treated the gap as a delay of about seven months and directed the developer to pay interest on the amount deposited by the buyer.

The authority has given the developer 90 days to clear the interest dues. It has also directed Ocus Skyscrapers to execute the conveyance deed within three months and said that charges outside the original buyer's agreement cannot be imposed.

What led to the dispute

The case goes back to a buyer's agreement dated December 16, 2013.

The buyer, Archana Dubey, had booked a commercial unit in Ocus 24K. The agreement provided for possession within 60 months. That put the contractual deadline at December 16, 2018.

The project did not reach that point on time. Before buying an under-construction property, buyers should also verify the project's RERA registration and possession timeline rather than relying only on sales commitments. 

According to the HRERA proceedings, the occupation certificate was issued on July 17, 2019. The developer formally offered possession on July 18.

That was roughly seven months after the date specified in the agreement.

Dubey approached HRERA over the delay. Buyers facing a similar dispute can also refer to the HRERA complaint filing process to understand the documents and procedure involved.  Her complaint also contained allegations concerning the allotment of her units and the statutory approvals for the project.

The authority did not accept all of those allegations.

HRERA finds delay in possession

On the possession issue, the authority found the promoter in breach of its obligation to hand over the property within the agreed period.

HRERA applied Section 18(1) of the RERA Act read with Rule 15 of the Haryana RERA Rules and ordered interest at 10.8% per annum on the amount paid by the complainant. The rate was linked to SBI's marginal cost of lending rate plus 2%.

The calculation was made from December 16, 2018, to September 18, 2019.

The authority also considered the two-month period following the possession offer while determining the interest period, citing Section 19(10) of the Act.

The developer has been given 90 days to pay the arrears.

For the buyer, the important part of the order is that the contractual possession date remained relevant even though the project subsequently received its occupation certificate and possession was offered.

Buyer had raised allegations about two units

The complaint was not limited to the possession delay.

Dubey had two commercial units with the developer. One was G-215 in Ocus Medley, Sector 99, while the other was G-119, measuring 419 sq ft, in Ocus 24K, Sector 68.

She alleged that the two units had been wrongly linked and that the developer had changed her allotment without her consent.

HRERA did not agree with that part of the complaint.

The authority accepted the developer's submission that the two units belonged to separate projects with separate registrations. The documentary material before the authority did not establish the alleged fraudulent unit swap.

The delayed-possession claim was nevertheless considered on its merits.

That distinction is important in reading the order. The authority's direction to pay interest does not mean that all the allegations made in the complaint were upheld.

Some allegations were left to other forums

Dubey had also questioned the manner in which the occupation and completion certificates were obtained.

She alleged that the certificates had been fraudulently procured and also claimed that the project remained incomplete, including allegations about construction debris at the site.

HRERA declined to decide those issues.

According to the reported order, the authority said such matters fell outside its jurisdiction and could be taken before the Director, Town and Country Planning, or a competent civil court.

So, while HRERA found a delay in possession and ordered interest, it did not make a finding that the statutory certificates had been fraudulently obtained.

Developer cannot add charges outside the agreement

The order also deals with the charges that can be recovered from the allottee.

HRERA directed Ocus Skyscrapers not to levy charges that fall outside the scope of the original buyer's agreement.

For buyers, the wording of the agreement can therefore become important when a dispute arises over additional payments. The document sets out the commercial terms agreed between the parties and can be examined alongside payment records and possession-related correspondence.

The authority has also directed the developer to execute the conveyance deed within three months.

Why the possession date matters

The Ocus 24K case turned largely on dates that could be established from the project documents.

The buyer's agreement gave the possession deadline. The occupation certificate was established when the project received the relevant approval. The possession letter provided another date.

Those records allowed HRERA to examine the delay against the contractual commitment.

For buyers dealing with a delayed project, keeping copies of the agreement, payment receipts, demand letters and possession correspondence can therefore be useful when approaching the regulator.

The same applies to buyers who believe that charges being demanded by a developer are not covered by their original agreement.

Possession is not the only stage at which buyers may need regulatory protection. RERA also provides a five-year defect liability framework for qualifying construction and workmanship issues after possession. 

What buyers can take from the order

The case does not mean that every delayed property possession dispute will result in exactly the same interest calculation.

Here, HRERA considered the agreement, the possession timeline and the applicable provisions of the RERA Act and Haryana RERA Rules. The authority then applied a 10.8% annual rate to the amount paid by the complainant.

The order also shows that different parts of a complaint can be treated differently.

A buyer may raise several issues in one proceeding, but the regulator may have jurisdiction over some and not others. In this case, the delayed-possession claim was considered, while allegations concerning the procurement of statutory certificates were left to other forums.

For anyone buying an under-construction commercial property, the practical lesson is to keep the paperwork together from the beginning. The buyer agreement, payment trail, possession commitment and project approval records can become important if the transaction later turns into a dispute.

What happens next in the Ocus 24K case

Ocus Skyscrapers now has 90 days to clear the interest arrears ordered by HRERA.

The developer has also been given three months to execute the conveyance deed. The authority has separately directed that charges outside the original buyer's agreement should not be imposed.

The order resolves the delayed-possession issue raised before HRERA. The other allegations raised by the buyer were not decided by the authority and, as reported, may be pursued before the forums identified in the order.

For Gurugram's commercial-property buyers, the case adds to the growing body of HRERA orders dealing with possession timelines, contractual obligations and interest payable when a developer misses the agreed handover date.