After DLF, Competition Commission targets Delhi builders

Recently, The CCI (Competition Commission of India ) dropped a bombshell that shattered the illusion that all was well with listed realty stocks. It fined market leader DLF Rs 630 crore for essentially duping home buyers using its monopoly power.
However, it is no one’s case that DLF is the only offender. The CCI is now spreading its tentacles further and has focused its attention of several Delhi builders who may have done a DLF or worse.
CCI has begun a reality check on other builders in and around the NCR (Delhi National Capital Region ) where the courts recently had to force builders to hand over land taken through dubious means.
The office of the CCI Director General has begun to collect information on major realty companies who have allegedly used “unfair” means to lure customers to buy apartments and then enter into one-sided contracts that favoured the builde
Informed sources said an investigative team was busy collecting samples of Builder-Buyer Agreements of many big builders in the NCR region. Among them: In Gurgaon - Emaar-MGF amd Unitech , In Noida - Supertech  Jaypee, Amrapali, and Lotus .
Strengthened by a crack team that has been deputed from the Law Ministry and stock market requlator SEBI, the CCI has formed a task force to check out major realtors in the Delhi NCR before focusing on the other metros of Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
In Delhi, two builders who have reportedly been taken for scrutiny are Supertech and Amrapali, both of whom issued newspaper advertisements even before they got the land on which they were to build their apartments.
In the case of Supertech, the advertisement  inviting buyers was published on 3 March 2010, while in the case of Amrapali the ad came on 19 March. While Supertech got its land allotment on 19 March , 16 days after the advertisement was published – Amrapali got its land the day the advertisement was carried by newspapers in Delhi. Since advertisements have to be released to the print media at least a day in advance, it is clear that Amrapali had jumped the gun at least by one day.
Both the builders are top names in Noida and Amrapali has used cricket players Mr. MS Dhoni, Mr.  RP Singh as its brand ambassadors.
The CCI investigative team has apparently collected copies of newspapers advertisements which were issued even before the Greater Noida Administration allotted Supertech and Amrapali their land.

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