Occupancy Certificate or Completion Certificate is your right as a owner of a property. But, over 80% of the property buyers that we have spoken to have not even bothered to verify whether the property that they have bought with so much of aspirations has even a valid OC in place. Most of the home owners follow the market trends, and are more worried about A Khata/B Khata, and do not pay any attention to check the presence of a valid Occupancy Certificate.
You might state that you’re already living inside your house for the last ‘X’ number of years. And that you have a valid Sales Agreement in your name. What could possibly go wrong? To put simply you can be evicted by the local civic authorities any time, or worse the property could be demolished for no fault of yours, but due to the gross impunity of the property developers who has violated the approved construction plan. Their actions might lead to the authorities declaring the property as unauthorized and threatened with demolition.
Even if you might get saved from the horrible scenario of facing eviction/demolition from your own dream home, you cannot sell or hypothecate the property after a lapse of say 10 years without a valid Occupancy certificate.
Does this all mean that you have to stay at the mercy of the property developer? Or do you have a way to get your house’s Occupancy Certificate from the builder? Yes, getting a valid Occupancy Certificate is your right and we at Power to Consumer stand to fight for your right.
According to a judgement issued by the Honourable Supreme Court in the case of Faqir Chand Gulati vs Uppal Agencies Pvt. Ltd & Anr on July 10th 2008, “Even if such a provision for providing completion certificate is not found in the agreement, the builder cannot escape the liability for securing the Completion Certificate and providing a copy to the owner. The law requires the builder to obtain completion certificate of such a building.”
Some of the excerpts from the judgement includes:
1. A prayer for Completion Certificate and C&D forms cannot be brushed aside by the builder stating that he has already applied for the Certificate and the C&D forms. If it’s not issued, the builder owes a duty to make necessary application and obtain it. If it’s withheld he may approach the appropriate court to secure it. If it’s justifiably withheld the builder will have to do whatever is required to be done to bring the property in agreement with the sanctioned plan. Local municipal authorities have to inspect and issue the completion certificate. If the builder fails to do so, he will liable to compensate the complainant for all loss/damage. The builder cannot discharge himself by stating that he has applied for a Completion Certificate.
2. The builder is bound to provide amenities and facilities like water, electricity and drainage in accordance with the agreement. If the Completion Certificate is not being issued by the Corporation because the builder has made deviations in construction, it’s the builder’s duty to rectify those deviations or bring it within the permissible limits and secure a Completion Certificate and the C&D forms from MCD. A builder cannot contend that he is not bound to produce the Completion Certificate, and that he is only bound to apply for the certificate. Also, he cannot say that he is not concerned whether the building is in accordance with the sanctioned plan or not and if it fulfills the requirements of the municipal bye laws or not.
At Power to Consumer, we believe it is your right to get a valid Occupancy Certificate for the property you have purchased from the developer. If you are a victim of harassment through builder, please feel free to approach us.
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