DLF moves SC over regulatory order to pay Rs630 cr ‘unfair trade’ penalty
19 May 2014
DLF Ltd, India's largest real estate company, today said it would move the Supreme Court against the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CoMPAT) verdict upholding an earlier order by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that it must pay a Rs630 crore as penalty for unfair trade practices by three of the group's companies.
Upholding the CCI order passed in 2011, the tribunal had earlier today said DLF should either pay the fine or appeal in the Supreme Court (See: DLF must pay Rs630 cr penalty or appeal to SC, rules fair trade watchdog CCI).
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".
In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, DLF had already said that it would "be challenging the said order passed by COMPAT in the Supreme Court, for which COMPAT has given us 60 days."