I am from a village in Udupi district, Karnataka. We have a family house in my Village which needed a renovation. For this, i have approached a civil contractor last year and the work started from mid January. Initially he quoted around 6 lakh for renovation and now this has come upto 10.5lakh+. As I am not staying in that house and parents are residing there, the work so far finished also had multiple issues. And now he gave me the bill in excel with 10.5lakh. With the hope that he will soon correct the issue work and complete on time, i have payed all amount. But now I feel that he has over charged for everything and nowhere close to original estimate. Also he has not completed the work yet. As I don't have any official contract or agreement with the contractor I am stuck to proceed further. However I have whatsapp communications. So please guide me how can I proceed further as he mentioned he will give bills soon which will match the excel bill. But i am sure that will be incorrect. Please suggest
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Lawyers are available now to answer your questions.
1) check whether bills issued mention the full name of supplier ,his GST number etc
2) what’s app messages are admissible in evidence
3) if quality of work done is poor call upon contractor to rectify them
4) if he fails to do so file complaint against contractor before consumer forum and seek orders to direct contractor to rectify defective work done
5) also seek litigation costs and compensation for mental torture undergone by you
You can approach the consumer forum for the solution but you will have to send a legal notice before approaching the consumer forum. You can put the Whatsapp communications as evidence. Take photographs of the defective areas and put them on record too. Further, do not accept the bill and as you are saying that he has over charged for everything and nowhere close to original estimate. Further, mail him regarding the defaults and ask for reply and surety that he will soon correct the issue work.
Also, you shall consult the lawyer for finding out the exact procedure to proceed with the case before the consumer forum including the timeline for filing of the case.
You can send him a legal notice and file a consumer case in court
1. If there's demonstrable evidence of his low quality work and overcharged bills, send a legal notice to the contractor based on your WhatsApp messages.
2. After getting reply from the contractor or if the contractor doesn't reply to the legal notice, based on the available evidence, try to file a case in the jurisdictional Consumer Court.
You don't have an agreement with the terms and conditions mentioned thereon.
Since the amount he charged was exorbitant for renovation that too in a village, you should have been cautious while dealing with it.
You should not have paid him the amount he demanded instead should have questioned him about the details of expenses he incurred additionally.
Now after having agreed to all his demands, you may not have any case maintainable in case you want to take any legal action against him for the excess amount he charged from you.
However you can demand the details and the bills by issuing a legal notice and then decide about further course of legal action.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. It sounds like you are dealing with a difficult contractor who has not provided you with a clear and accurate estimate for the renovation work and has not completed the work to your satisfaction.
Even though you do not have an official contract or agreement with the contractor, you do have communication through WhatsApp which can be used as evidence to support your claim. Here are some steps you can take to address the situation:
Review the work completed so far and create a list of any issues or incomplete work. Take photos or videos of the issues as evidence.
Contact the contractor and express your concerns about the final bill and the quality of the work completed. Ask for a detailed breakdown of the costs and an explanation for any increases from the original estimate.
Negotiate a resolution with the contractor. You can discuss options such as a partial refund, fixing the issues with the work, or completing any unfinished work.
If you are unable to come to a resolution with the contractor, you can consider filing a complaint with the local consumer forum or filing a civil suit. The WhatsApp communication can be used as evidence in court.
In the future, it is important to have a written contract or agreement with any contractor before beginning work. This will help to ensure that both parties understand the scope of the work, the costs involved, and the expectations for the completion of the work.
