Chennai, 16.12.2025 : The Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TN RERA) has directed Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited to rectify multiple defects and ensure full functionality of essential common amenities in C Block of the Mahindra Happinest Avadi project in Thiruvallur district before handing them over to residents. The authority held that a promoter cannot evade maintenance responsibilities when common facilities have not been lawfully and formally handed over to the concerned association.
The order was passed by a Bench comprising Chairperson Shiv Das Meena and Members Dr. L. Subramanian and M. Krishnamoorthy, while allowing a complaint filed by the Nalām Home Owners Association, which represents residents of C Block.
The association alleged that several amenities promised in project brochures were either missing or non-functional. It pointed to untreated sewage overflowing onto internal roads due to a non-operational sewage treatment plant (STP), a defective water treatment plant (WTP) supplying untreated water that damaged household appliances, and non-functioning food waste treatment and diesel generator (DG) systems. Residents also complained of low water pressure on upper floors, rainwater leakage through windows, absence of CCTV cameras, and lack of DG power in common areas.
Additional grievances included the use of uneven paver blocks instead of a promised concrete internal road, replacement of a concrete compound wall with a green fence, and allocation of parking spaces earmarked for C Block residents to buyers from other blocks.
During the proceedings, TN RERA relied on an inspection report by an independent engineer, which confirmed that one STP was not working, the WTP and food waste treatment plant were non-functional, and DG power was not provided in common areas. The authority held that these findings established the deficiencies and that rectification was mandatory.
Mahindra Lifespace argued that a project-level association had been formed in 2017 and that memorandums of understanding were executed with it for the handover and maintenance of common facilities, shifting responsibility to the association. It also claimed that parking allocation fell within the association’s domain and that the use of paver blocks was consented to.
TN RERA rejected these submissions, noting that no MoU had been executed with an association formed exclusively for C Block and that maintenance had not been formally handed over on a block-wise basis. The authority observed that arrangements with a project-level association could not absolve the developer of responsibility where block-wise handover had not occurred.
The authority further noted that other blocks in the project had concrete roads and that the brochure expressly promised RCC roads and streetlights. Offering inferior infrastructure to C Block residents was held to be impermissible.
Accordingly, TN RERA directed Mahindra Lifespace Developers to rectify all defects in C Block, ensure that the STP, WTP, food waste treatment plant and DG systems are fully functional, provide a concrete driveway as promised, and thereafter hand over the common amenities to the C Block association. The order reiterates that a promoter remains responsible for maintenance and functionality of common facilities until a proper and lawful handover is completed and that such obligations cannot be unilaterally shifted to residents or associations.
Cause Title: Nalam Home Owners Association (NHOA) vs. M/s Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd
Case No.: C.No.106 of 2023
Coram: Chairperson Thiru. Shiv Das Meena; Members Dr. L. Subramanian, M. Krishnamoorthy
