One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.
Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.
TL;DR: When a builder converted a shop into a multipurpose room after promising a shop in the redevelopment agreement, the agreement wins over any oral story the builder tells later. A phone call he can't produce a record of proves nothing. Your realistic routes are a MahaRERA complaint, the consumer commission, or a civil suit for specific performance, and the one you choose decides how fast you get relief.
Dr. Sneha Kulkarni ran a small physiotherapy clinic out of one room of the family's old flat in Baner, Pune. The building went in for redevelopment in 2019. Under the agreement with the developer, the family was to get a flat plus a ground-floor shop so the clinic could carry on. Her husband, Rakesh, kept a folder with every page of that agreement. He still has it.
Possession came around early 2024. The flat was fine. In place of the shop, the builder handed over a multipurpose room on the first floor. Similar carpet area. No shop frontage, no separate entry from the road, and a society rule about commercial use that nobody had mentioned.
Rakesh asked the site manager what happened. The answer: the change was requested by the family over a phone call. No email. No letter. No signed addendum. A legal notice went out in February 2025. The reply repeated the phone-call claim and added nothing to it. Their earlier lawyer suggested filing, but the route was unclear, so they approached the Chamber of Advocate Sudhir Rao. The chamber's work in builder and redevelopment disputes helped put the matter on the right footing early, which is what made the difference between a complaint that gets heard and one that gets returned.
Key Facts of the Case
- The old flat in Baner, Pune, was redeveloped under a written agreement signed with the developer in 2019.
- The agreement promised one residential flat plus one shop to the original owner's family.
- Possession was offered around early 2024. The flat matched the agreement. The shop did not.
- What was handed over was a first-floor multipurpose room, not a ground-floor shop.
- The