Small villa delivered: Homebuyer wins Rs 20L

A Telangana court ruled in favor of a homebuyer, P. Krishna Reddy, who claimed he was misled by a builder regarding the size of a villa he purchased. The Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) found that the builder, Baddam Laxma Reddy, misrepresented the villa's built-up area, which was originally advertised as 5,068.96 sq. ft., but later reduced to 3,900 sq. ft.

This discrepancy amounted to a loss of around Rs 90 lakh for the buyer. The court held that the builder breached its duty of transparency and fair dealing by altering the representation of the property's area after the agreement was signed. The court ordered the builder to refund the buyer's entire consideration, including interest, and imposed penalties for non-compliance with RERA guidelines.