9911796707
TMI Blog2015 (4) TMI 231X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 9;s family had booked five units of commercial office space aggregating to 9,688 Sq. Ft. in DLF Corporate Greens project at Sector 74A in Gurgaon developed by the Opposite Party. The details of the said booking are as follow: DCG -4 Flat No. 0107, total area 3,184 Sq. Ft. in the name of Mr. Abhijeet Singh booked on 17.09.2010; DCG-2 Flat No. 0215, total area 1,621 Sq. Ft. in the name of Mr. Abhijeet Singh booked on 26.06.2010; DCG-2 Flat No. 0304, total area 1,621 Sq. Ft. in the name of Mr. Abhijeet Singh booked on 27.08.2010; DCG-2 Flat No. 0305, total area 1,621 Sq. Ft. in the name of Ms. Usha Singh booked on 27.08.2010 and DCG-2 Flat No. 0106, total area 1,621 Sq. Ft. in the name of Ms. Deepika Sangwan booked on 26.06.2010. 2.3 Accordingly, Commercial Office Space Buyers Agreements (hereinafter referred to as the 'Agreement') were entered into between above said family members of the Informant and the Opposite Party. As per the Informant, the possession of the said five commercial office space units was to be handed over between 20.06.2011 to 29.09.2011. 2.4 It is stated in the information that the Opposite Party, which belongs to the DLF Group, is dominant in Gurgaon. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ty and refund the amount to the buyer within 90 days from the date of full realisation of the total sale price from the new buyer but that too without interest for the period that the money was used by the Opposite Party. Thus, it is unfair on the part of the Opposite Party to retain the buyer's money without paying any interest rate for its own non-performance. (v) Para 14.2: The buyer has to deposit maintenance security calculated @ Rs. 500/- per Sq. Ft. of the super area to the maintenance agency and the deposited amount would earn a simple interest rate equivalent to the interest rate paid by State Bank of India for its one year fixed deposit. But, 'the Agreement' neither explains the rationale as to why the buyer has to remit a security deposit @ Rs. 500/- per Sq. Ft. nor does it explain the rationale for paying simple interest rate as paid by SBI for its one year fixed deposit. Also, the Opposite Party has been authorised to cancel the agreement without any prior notice in case of non-payment of increase in the amount of security within 15 days of raising the demand and recover the shortfall from the sale proceeds of the said premises. (vi) Para 29: If 'the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nce security); yet the Opposite Party is not agreeing to adjust the balance sale price against the compensation amount and is forcing him to repay the remaining amount. Further, the Informant has stated that to repay the same his family would have to borrow money at high interest rate while their own money is lying with the seller and it does not attract any interest. 2.10 The Informant has stated that vide letter dated 08.09.2011 he had raised some of the above mentioned issues and had sent a communication to the Opposite Party. However, the Opposite Party dismissed the objections vide letter dated 01.10.2011 stating that the properties of the Informant were purchased on resale basis from M/s Devinder Gupta & Sons Realtor Pvt. Ltd. The Opposite Party has replied that the Informant had option of reviewing 'the Agreement' before undergoing the said transaction as 'the Agreement' was standard for all the properties in this scheme. In this regard the Informant has submitted that 'the Agreement' was received directly from M/s DLF Universal Ltd. several months after booking of the properties and the buyers of the commercial space had no choice but to sign on the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Corporate Greens project and accordingly had entered into commercial office space buyers agreements with the Opposite Party. Thus, the market for the services of development and sale of commercial space appears to be the relevant product market in the instant matter in which the Opposite Party is the seller and the family members of the Informant are buyers. The services of development and sale of commercial space appears to be a distinct product. No other services/products in its category such as development and sale of residential units, development and sale of plots of land etc., can be considered as the substitute of the services for development and sale of commercial space because of its unique physical characteristics and consumer preferences. Thus, the market for 'the services of development and sale of commercial space' appears to be the relevant product market in this case. 7. Section 2(s) of the Act defines relevant geographic market as "a market comprising the area in which the conditions of competition for supply of goods or provision of services or demand of goods or services are distinctly homogenous and can be distinguished from the conditions prevailing in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on such as, Emmar MGF Land Ltd, Unitech, Spaze Towers Pvt. Ltd, Vatika Ltd, Bestech Indian Pvt. Ltd, JMD Ltd., DLF Group appears to be dominant in the relevant market. 10. It is the case of the Informant that some of the clauses of 'the Agreement' are unilateral, one sided and unfair which is violative of the provisions of Section 4 of the Act. Such unfair clauses include the Opposite Party can unilaterally abandon of project without giving any reason to the buyers and its liability is limited to refunding the deposited money with 9 % simple interest; the Opposite Party can alter/modify the building plan, etc. without the consent of buyers; the buyer is required to pay an interest of 15% - 18% per annum for any delayed payment of instalment whereas the Opposite Party is to refund only the amounts received from the buyer without interest or in some cases 9% interest in the event of cancellation of the project, no provision for adequate compensation to buyers in case of failure on the part of the Opposite Party to deliver the possession within the stipulated time; unfair and one sided formation of owners' association by the Opposite Party, etc. Having examined the clause ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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