MOHALI, Aug 13 — The district consumer disputes redressal commission has ordered the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to pay ₹1 lakh compensation to a man after failing to allot him a 500-square-yard plot in IT City despite receiving his earnest money.
Complainant Mangal secured the plot through a draw of lots and was issued a Letter of Intent (LOI) on November 23, 2016, directing him to pay an additional ₹20 lakh by December 21 that year. However, the LOI and payment demand reached him after the deadline.
Mangal wrote to GMADA on February 22, 2017, offering to pay the amount along with any surcharge. Clause 5 of the LOI allowed payments to be made up to six months late with interest and penalty. Despite this, GMADA rejected his request and, in August 2019, cancelled the allotment, forfeiting his earnest money without issuing a show-cause notice or granting a hearing.
His legal notice to GMADA went unanswered, and his administrative appeal was later withdrawn to pursue the matter before the consumer forum. Mangal sought either the same or an alternative plot along with ₹10 lakh for mental harassment and litigation costs.
GMADA argued that Mangal neither paid within the original deadline nor sought an extension in time, claiming the cancellation stood final. The commission, presided over by SK Aggarwal with member Paramjeet Kaur, disagreed, noting that his February 2017 request was well within the LOI’s permissible extended period and that similar concessions had been granted to other allottees.
The panel held GMADA guilty of deficiency in service, calling the cancellation and forfeiture “unjustified” for having been done without a hearing, and directed payment of ₹1 lakh in compensation.
