CCI junks abuse of dominance plea against DLF Gayatri Developers

The Competition Commission of India found that DLF Gayatri was one of the many players in Mahabubnagar.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has dismissed a plea alleging abuse of dominant position by DLF Gayatri Developers, a joint venture between Gurgaon-based DLF India Limited and Hyderabad-headquartered Gayatri Infra Private Limited (GIPL), by forcing certain terms on homebuyers.

The anti-trust watchdog on July 13 dismissed the plea on the ground that DLF Gayatri was not a dominant player in Telangana’s Mahbubnagar and the allegations were not maintainable.

What were the allegations?

In 2012, Jitendra Bathla booked a residential plot in the DLF Garden City Project developed by the JV in Mahbubnagar district.

Bathla said the project was given wide publicity on account of two big real-estate developers coming together to develop a high-end residential-cum-commercial project. Even though the plot was promised to be delivered in 2014, an offer of possession of the plot was made only in the year 2019, he claimed.

In his plea, Bathla alleged that DLF Gayatri imposed unfair clauses in the agreement offering membership to a club to its homeowners. The membership conditions were unfair and discriminatory and urged CCI to direct DLF Gayatri to remove them.

He said the absolute discretion of the club management to grant or curtail or terminate club membership should be done away with. He also alleged that charges, which included membership fees (for five years), annual subscription and a security deposit, were exorbitant.

Bathla also questioned the club management’s right to rent out facilities to non-members and to restrict members from using the facilities.

CCI's findings

The commission said to ascertain if DLF Gayatri was abusing its dominant position, it was necessary to find out whether the company was the dominant player in the residential plots market in Mahabubnagar.

It found that there were a number of Real Estate Regulatory Authority-approved projects in the district developed by firms like Girdhari Constructions, Ashoka Ventures and Vardhan Developers, the CCI said in its order. "Several of these real-estate developers have had a presence in the sector for many years," CCI said.

It concluded that DLF Gayatri Developers was not in a dominant position in Mahabubnagar and dismissed Bathla’s plea.