Competition Appellate Tribunal stays Rs 630 crore penalty on DLF

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The Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) on Wednesday stayed the Rs 630 crore penalty imposed by fair trade watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) on realty major DLF over alleged abuse of dominant market position.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat stayed the operation of the CCI order imposing the penalty.

However, the tribunal clarified in an interim order that if DLF loses its case, the company will have to deposit the entire amount along with 9 per cent interest.

It also asked the company to give an undertaking within a period of three months regarding its liability to pay the penalty and interest if it loses the case.

Meanwhile, the tribunal also directed DLF and the flat owners' association to submit a draft of the revised terms of their agreement, as directed by the CCI in its order, within a period of eight weeks.

The case pertains to the CCI's imposition of a hefty penalty of Rs 630 crore on DLF on August 12 for alleged abuse of its dominant position and the issuance of a 'cease and desist' order over unfair conditions imposed on the buyers of its flats.

In August, the CCI had passed another order in a separate case wherein it asked DLF to 'cease and desist' from misuse of its dominant position, but did not impose any penalty.

These orders followed inquiries into complaints filed by the flat buyer associations of two separate DLF projects in Gurgaon, in the National Capital Region.

DLF had approached Compat last month seeking relief from the orders of the fair trade watchdog, following which the matter was posted for hearing on November 9.

The country's largest developer had challenged the CCI directive on various grounds, including the jurisdiction of the case, the basis for determining relevant market and dominant position and the company not being served with show-cause notices before the order was passed.