Don't cancel allotments, probe will continue: CCI to DLF

The Competition Commission of India (CCI), which is probing alleged anti-competitive practices by DLF, passed the ad-interim stay order to give relief to flat-owners of the proposed projects, The Belaire and Park Plaza.

"The Commission has passed an ad-interim stay order keeping in mind the nature of the case. But we will keep the investigations on though," a CCI official said.

When contacted, a DLF official said the company has not received any communication in this regard from the CCI as yet.

In June this year, on the basis of complaints from individuals who had booked flats with various developers, the CCI had referred the complaints against DLF to the Director General-Investigations for a probe.

The probe was ordered after CCI "prima facie" found the real estate developer has abused its dominant market position and the agreement with buyers of flats was "one-sided" in nature and there were "variations from the initial stipulations".

According to one such complaint, DLF had promised to complete its residential project in Gurgaon, called The Belaire, in 2009, but the buyers are yet to get possession. Another individual had alleged that for project Height, DLF had initially announced it as an 18-floor apartment, but later on added 10 more storeys without informing the buyers.

These complaints were admitted under Section 4 of the Competition Act of 2002, which pertains to abuse of dominance by a player in a relevant geography.

According to sources, the complainants had sought imposition of an ad-interim relief order till the investigation was fully completed.

The Competition Act of 2002 empowers the CCI to look into matters relating to abuse of dominant position and anti-competitive practices.