Director General of Anti-Profiteering Vs Sanghvi Premises Pvt. Ltd. (Competition Commission of India)
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has issued an order directing the Director General of Anti-Profiteering (DGAP) to investigate Sanghvi Premises Pvt. Ltd., a construction company, for possible anti-profiteering violations related to Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Input Tax Credit (ITC).
The CCI’s order is based on a detailed investigation carried out by DGAP under Rule 129(6) of the Central Goods & Service Tax (CGST) Rules, 2017. The investigation was initiated after the erstwhile National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) ordered the DGAP to look into projects executed by Sanghvi Premises Pvt. Ltd. under GST Registration No. 27AAACL05981D1ZM and assess whether the company was passing on the benefit of ITC to buyers as per Section 171(1) of the CGST Act, 2017.
The DGAP found that Sanghvi Premises Pvt. Ltd. had executed multiple projects under different GST registration numbers, and some of these registrations got cancelled. The DGAP faced challenges in identifying which projects fell under which registration numbers due to incomplete information provided by the company.
To ensure a comprehensive investigation, the CCI directed DGAP to probe not only projects under GST Registration No. 27AAACL05981D1ZM but also projects executed under the newly obtained GST registration numbers (27AAACL0598D3ZK, 27AAACL0598D2ZL, and 27AAACL0598D4ZJ) by the company. The CCI emphasizes the need for the company’s cooperation and instructs the jurisdictional commissioners to assist the DGAP in completing the investigation.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA
1. The present Report dated 24.01.2023 has been received from the Director General of Anti-Profiteering (DGAP) after a detailed investigation under Rule 129 (6) of the Central Goods & Service Tax (CGST) Rules, 2017. The brief facts of the case are that the erstwhile National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) in the case of M/s Sanghvi Premises Pvt. Ltd., (Respondent) vide Para 19 of the Order No. 48/2022 dated 26.07.2022 had directed the DGAP to investigate other Projects/Blocks being constructed by the Respondent under GST Registration No. 27AAACL05981D1ZM, under Rule 133(5) of the CGST Rules, 2017 and submit his report to the NAA for determination whether the Respondent was liable to pass on the benefit of ITC in respect of all the other Projects/Blocks to the buyers, or not, as per the provisions of Section 171(1) of the CGST Act, 2017.
2. Accordingly, the DGAP had requested the Respondent to submit the details of all the projects constructed by him under the GST Registration No. 27AAACL05981D1ZM. Profiteering in respect of the project “Sanghvi Solitaire” which was registered under the above Registration Number had already been determined by the NAA vide its Order dated 26.07.2022. The DGAP has stated that the period covered during the current investigation was from 01.07.2017 to 30.06.2022.
3. The DGAP in his report has stated that the Respondent has submitted that he was a private limited company which was mainly providing construction services and was registered with the Service Tax Department in the pre-GST regime vide Registration No. AAACL0598DSD002. In the GST regime he was registered with the GST Department under GST No. 27AAACL0598D1ZM, under the directorship of the following persons: –
