Fazilka Improvement Trust held guilty of deficiency in service

Chandigarh, September 5

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, has directed the Principal Secretary, Department of Local Bodies, and the chairman and executive officer of the Fazilka Improvement Trust to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to a city resident for not refunding the deposited amount in an incomplete housing project at Fazilka.

The commission has also directed it to refund Rs 9,21,476 to the complainant and pay Rs 30,000 as the cost of litigation.

Anshul Monga, a resident of Chandigarh, in a complaint filed through counsel Bhupinder Singh Gill, said he applied for a residential plot/house under a scheme of the Fazilka Improvement Trust. Monga said he was allotted a corner plot vide a letter issued on June 1, 2015, and he deposited Rs 9,21,476.

The complainant said as no development took place at the site, he requested the opposition parties to refund the amount. However, despite various requests and service of legal notice, they failed to refund the amount.

In their reply, the chairman and executive officer of the Trust denied there was lack of development at the site or that basic amenities had not been provided there.

The commission said though the Trust claimed there was no development at the site, they had not filed any cogent proof in support of the same. The complainant had submitted photographs which corroborated his version.