CCI rejects complaint against Parsvnath Developers

The Competition Commission has rejected a complaint alleging that realty player Parsvnath Developers abused its dominant position by imposing unfair terms and conditions in the sale agreement of a flat in Gurgaon, Haryana.
After finding that the firm is not dominant in the relevant market, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which keeps a tab on unfair business practices, rejected the complaint.
It was alleged that Parsvnath Developers failed to hand over the possession of a flat to the complainant in 'Parsvnath Exotica' project in Gurgaon within the stipulated timeframe.
Further, the complaint alleged that the company exercised its dominant position while getting the agreement signed from individual buyers and abused the same in an unfair manner by putting grossly unilateral and unreasonable conditions in the agreement for sale of flats.

For this case, the watchdog considered "provision of services relating to development and sale of residential flats in Gurgaon," as the relevant market.
The regulator noted that there are several major real estate developers in the relevant market providing similar services who pose competitive constraints to Parsvnath Developers.

"Presence of such players with comparable projects in the relevant market indicates that buyers have the option to choose from various developers in the relevant market," CCI said.
Further, CCI said no information is available on record or in the public domain indicating a position of strength enjoyed by the company, which enables it to operate independently of competitive forces prevailing in the relevant market.

With regard to anti-competitive practices, the watchdog said, "Analysis of the information has not revealed any anti-competitive agreement, be it at horizontal or vertical level".
Dismissing the complaint, CCI said, "the Commission is of the opinion that no case has been made out against the opposite party (Parsvnath Developers) for violation of either Section 3 or 4 of the Act.
While Section 3 of the Competition Act deals with anti-competitive agreements, Section 4 pertains to abuse of dominant position.