Maharashtra Consumer Commission Orders Builders to Refund Rs 1.05 Crore With Interest After Decade-Long Betrayal of Homebuyers

In a significant ruling that lays bare the vulnerability of homebuyers in Maharashtra's real estate market, the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed two builder firms to refund Rs 1.05 crore with interest to a couple whose flat was sold to a third party — even after they had made full payment of the purchase price.

The order, passed last week, condemned what the commission described as "an egregious and protracted ordeal spanning over a decade" — one that cost the complainants not just their life savings, but years of physical hardship, emotional anguish, and repeated encounters with what the commission called "evasive responses and empty promises."

Who Are the Complainants?

The couple at the centre of this case represent a cross-section of aspirational, middle-class India. The husband worked as an accountant with a Kuwait-based company, while his wife served as a teacher at a junior college in Raigad district. Together, they pooled their earnings and savings to invest in a home in Mumbai — a dream that the builders would go on to systematically dismantle over the course of more than ten years.

The Sequence of Betrayals

The trouble began in 2013, when the couple paid Rs 40 lakh to book a flat in the respondents' project known as the "Dongri Project" in Mumbai. The builders — Universal Housing & Infrastructure and Universal Construction, managed by Saquib Shaikh Ahmed Mukadam and Sajid Shaikh Ahmed Mukadam — had promised to commence construction within 36 months.

When construction failed to begin within the promised timeline, the builders did not offer a refund. Instead, they persuaded the couple to transfer their investment to another project — "Bay View," located in Mazgaon. The couple agreed, and proceeded to pay the full sale price of Rs 90 lakh by September 2018.

What followed was a shock. The couple later discovered that the very flat allotted to them in the Bay View project had already been sold to a third party — without their knowledge and in clear violation of their agreement.

Bounced Cheques and a Hollow MoU

When confronted, the builders did not deny the wrongdoing. They offered to refund the couple's money. However, the cheques issued in this regard bounced repeatedly due to insufficient funds — a pattern the commission would later describe as part of a "systematic pattern of deceit."

In June 2021, the builders executed a Memorandum of Understanding formally acknowledging a total liability of Rs 1.25 crore towards the couple. Of this, Rs 20 lakh was paid in 2023. The remaining balance — the bulk of what was owed — remained unpaid.

The Commission's Findings

The Maharashtra Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission passed the order ex parte — meaning in the absence of the respondent builders — as the builder firms and their managing partners failed to appear or submit any response to the complaint despite being served notice.

In its ruling, the commission did not mince words. It held that the builders' conduct amounted to deficiency in service and unfair trade practices under consumer law, and went significantly further in its characterisation of the wrongdoing.

The commission noted that the builders had "not only deprived the complainants of their hard-earned life savings but engaged in a systematic pattern of deceit, marked by unfulfilled assurances, the arbitrary shifting of allotments between projects, and the repeated issuance of worthless cheques."

The panel also highlighted the severe physical toll on the complainants, who — living in Mangaon, over 150 kilometres from Mumbai — were forced to travel repeatedly to the builders' offices in the city, "only to be met with evasive responses and empty promises."

On the question of the flat being sold to a third party, the commission was unequivocal. It held that this act demonstrated a "mala fide approach that transcends mere deficiency in service, amounting to acute harassment and unjust enrichment" at the expense of the complainants.

The commission concluded that the builders' actions constituted a "gross abuse of trust."

The Relief Awarded

The commission directed the builder firms to:

• Refund Rs 1.05 crore to the complainants, with interest at 10% per annum calculated from June 2021 — the date of the MoU in which the builders had themselves acknowledged their liability.
• Pay Rs 50,000 as compensation for the severe mental agony, physical harassment, and financial distress caused to the couple.
• Pay Rs 25,000 towards legal expenses incurred by the complainants in pursuing the case.

Why This Ruling Matters

This case is far from an isolated incident. Homebuyer disputes involving delayed possession, fund diversion, and double-selling of units have been a persistent feature of Maharashtra's real estate landscape — particularly in the years before and immediately after the enactment of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA).

The Maharashtra Consumer Commission's ruling is significant for several reasons. It underscores that consumer forums remain a meaningful — and often faster — avenue of redress for homebuyers, particularly in cases where the builder has absconded from regulatory proceedings or failed to respond to notices. The commission's willingness to pass strong ex parte orders, with interest running from the date of the builder's own acknowledged liability, sends a clear signal to developers who believe that silence or delay can outlast a complainant's resolve.

For a couple who spent over a decade travelling 150 kilometres each way in the hope of recovering their life savings, the commission's ruling — while long overdue — is a measure of justice that the legal system was built to deliver.

Order passed by: Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Ruling date: Last week (June 2026)Builders: Universal Housing & Infrastructure, Universal Construction Managing Partners: Saquib Shaikh Ahmed Mukadam, Sajid Shaikh Ahmed Mukadam