The date in the agreement passes. The flat is not ready. The developer says a few more months. A few months become a year. This is the most common complaint in Dhaka's under-construction flat market, and the buyers who come out of it best are rarely the ones who shouted loudest. They are the ones who kept a file.
Delay has many causes, and some of them are genuine. Approvals take time, material prices move, utility connections stall, financing tightens. Others are a cover for poor planning or money moved to another project. From the buyer's side, the cause matters less at first than the record. What the agreement says, what was paid, and what happened next: that record is what every remedy depends on.
Build the file before you argue
Start with the paper, not the phone call. Gather the signed agreement and all its annexes, the payment schedule, every payment receipt and bank record, the booking documents, and every message, email and letter exchanged with the developer. Note the promised handover date, any grace period, any penalty clause, and any written extensions already agreed.
Then put the delay in writing. A short factual letter or email to the developer, stating the agreement date, the promised handover date, the payments made, the current state of the flat as the buyer understands it, and a request for a revised and specific completion date, creates a record that verbal complaints do not. Send it in a way that leaves proof of delivery, and keep a copy. A delay becomes harder to resolve the longer it stays verbal.
What the agreement should already say
Before deciding what to demand, read the delay clause. Not every delay entitles the buyer to the same remedy. The agreement may provide a grace period, a penalty rate, a right to cancel after a defined period, or none of these. Some agreements require the buyer to give formal notice before a remedy applies.
The Real Estate Development and Management Act 2010 backs the buyer here. Section 30 of the Act provides that a developer who fails to transfer possession as agreed can face imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to Tk 20,00,000, or both.
The REHAB code of business conduct, which member developers follow, adds a practical route of its own. If a member fails to complete the project and hand over the flat within one year of the scheduled time, barring circumstances beyond its control such as force majeure, the buyer is entitled to a full refund of the amount paid along with interest at the prevailing fixed deposit rate, to be paid within six months of a written demand. The code also requires a member to give the buyer one year of free service for construction defects after handover.
The complaint route, step by step
A written complaint to the developer is the first step, not the last one. If the reply is vague or no reply comes, the next step is a complaint to REHAB's customer cell, where the association sits with both the developer and the buyer to try to settle the matter. REHAB has handled hundreds of such applications through this channel, and a developer that values its membership has a reason to settle.
If that does not work, a buyer can complain to the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, which handles consumer grievances including housing. For larger claims, the agreement itself usually names the forum: arbitration, mediation or the courts. None of these forums works without the file. The agreement, the receipts, the written complaint and the replies are the evidence.
What to check while waiting
While the complaint runs, keep checking the project. Visit the site and photograph the progress, with dates. Ask whether the building approval is in place and whether the utility connections have been applied for. Check whether the developer has sold the same flat to anyone else: under the Act, selling a committed unit to another buyer can carry up to three years' imprisonment and a fine of up to Tk 20 lakh.
This article gives general information only. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace advice from a qualified lawyer about a specific agreement or dispute. A buyer facing a significant delay or financial loss should seek independent legal advice promptly. The habit to keep is simple: put the date, the demand and the reply in writing, every time.
