Competition Commission of India (CCI): An information alleging abuse of dominant position by Prateek Realtors India Pvt. Ltd. (Prateek Realtors) with regard to sale of an apartment in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, was dismissed by CIC on the ground that Prateek Realtors was not a dominant player in the market for provision of services for the development and sale of residential unit in Noida and Greater Noida. Earlier, Prateek Realtors developed a residential housing complex, namely, ‘Prateek Laurel’ on the plot in Noida and offered residential apartments.
The Informant booked a finished residential apartment in the said project, after payment of the booking amount and signed a residential apartment ‘allotment letter’. It was alleged in the information that the terms and conditions of the allotment letter were unilaterally prepared by Prateek Realtors India Pvt. Ltd. without consulting the Informant and also these terms and conditions were not shown to the Informant at the time of booking. It was further alleged that Prateek Realtors has inserted such terms and conditions in the allotment letter which made exit impossible for the Informant. It was also stated that since Prateek Realtors had already received a considerable amount, it imposed highly abusive conditions through the allotment letter on the Informant and also compelled him to sign one-sided agreements relating to maintenance, car parking and electricity supply.
After perusal of material on record and hearing both the parties, CCI noted, “The Commission observes that as per the information available in the public domain there are many other major developers like Amrapali, Supertech, Unitech, 3C Company, Lotus Greens, Saha Infratech, ATS Greens, Jaypee Infratech, Eldeco etc. which are competing with OP 1 in the relevant market with projects of varying magnitudes and having comparable sizes and resources. The presence of so many players in the relevant market acts as a competitive constraint for OP 1 in enjoying a position of strength which would enable it to operate independently of market forces in the relevant market….Therefore, in view of the Commission, OP 1 cannot be considered as a dominant player in the relevant market.” While observing that, “no case of contravention of the provisions of Section 4 of the Act (which pertains to abuse of dominant position) is made out against OP 1 (Prateek Realtors),” the Commission closed the matter. [A.S.Sharma v. Prateek Realtors India Pvt. Ltd., [2016] CCI 21, decided on 01.06.2016]
