DLF must pay Rs630 cr penalty or appeal to SC, rules fair trade watchdog CCI
19 May 2014
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has slapped DLF Ltd, India's biggest real estate company, with a penalty of Rs630 crore for unfair business practices.
Upholding its earlier order passed in 2011, India's fair trade watchdog today said India's biggest real estate company should either pay the fine or appeal in the Supreme Court.
The case relates to a 2010 deal where a group of flat buyers in DLF's high-end Belaire project in Gurgaon approached the CCI with complaints of delayed possession and a unilateral increase in the number of floors in the apartment complex.
The flat buyers had alleged that DLF "imposed highly arbitrary, unfair and unreasonable conditions on the apartment allottees of Belaire, which led to serious adverse effects and ramifications on the rights of the allottees" (See: CCI removes abusive conditions from DLF agreements).
In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, DLF said, "The company shall be challenging the said order passed by COMPAT (Competition Appellate Tribunal) in the Supreme Court, for which COMPAT has given us 60 days