ILD Housing Projects Private Limited Vs Department of Town And Country Planning (Competition Commission of India)
The present information was filed by ILD Housing Projects Private Limited and a real estate developers’ association under Section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002, alleging abuse of dominant position under Section 4 of the Act by the Department of Town and Country Planning, Government of Haryana and the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran. The matter arose pursuant to directions of the Delhi High Court requiring urgent consideration of the allegations, which largely mirrored issues earlier examined by the Competition Commission of India in an earlier case.
The Informants contended that the Opposite Parties, being statutory authorities with exclusive powers to issue licences for real estate development in Haryana and to execute external and infrastructure development works, imposed unfair and discriminatory conditions on developers. These included mandatory payment of External Development Charges (EDC) and Infrastructure Development Charges (IDC), interest on delayed payments, unilateral revision of charges, and clauses barring claims for compensation despite delays in execution of external development works. It was alleged that such conduct amounted to abuse of dominance, as developers had no alternative source for licences or infrastructure development approvals in the State.
