Case No. 14 of 2025 and Case No. 16 of 2025 Page 1 of 17
COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA
Case No. 14 of 2025
In Re:
ILD Housing Projects Private Limited
(formerly known as International Land Developers
Private Limited)
Informant
611-A, Devika Tower 6,
Nehru Place,
New Delhi-110019
And
Department
of
Town
and
Country
Planning,
Government of Haryana
Plot No. 3, Sector-18A,
Madhya Marg,
Chandigarh-160018
Opposite Party No.1
Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran
(Formerly Haryana Urban Development Authority)
HSVP Office Complex,
C-3, Sector-6,
Panchkula-134109,
Haryana
Opposite Party No.2
With
Case No. 16 of 2025
In Re:
Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of
India-NCR
FF-01, Omaxe Square,
Jasola District Centre,
New Delhi-110025
Informant
And
Case No. 14 of 2025 and Case No. 16 of 2025 Page 2 of 17
Department
of
Town
and
Country
Planning,
Government of Haryana
Plot No. 3, Sector-18A,
Madhya Marg,
Chandigarh-160018
Opposite Party No.1
Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran
HSVP Office Complex,
C-3, Sector-6,
Panchkula-134109,
Haryana
Opposite Party No.2
Coram:
Ms. Ravneet Kaur
Chairperson
Mr. Anil Agrawal
Member
Ms. Sweta Kakkad
Member
Mr. Deepak Anurag
Member
Order under Section 26(2) of the Competition Act, 2002
1. The present Information has been filed by ILD Housing Projects Private Limited
(“ILD”/“Informant No.1”) and Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of
India-NCR (“CREDAI”/“Informant No.2”) (collectively referred to as the
“Informants”) respectively under Section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002 (“Act”),
alleging contravention of the provisions of Section 4 of the Act by Department of Town
and Country Planning, Government of Haryana, (“DTCP”/ “Opposite Party No.1”/“OP-
1”) and Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (“HSVP”/“Opposite Party No.2”/“OP-2”).
Hereinafter, OP-1 and OP-2 are collectively referred to as the Opposite Parties (“OPs”).
2. The Information has been filed pursuant to the order of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi
dated 07.04.2025 passed in Writ Petitions [W.P.(C) 3705/2025 titled as ILD Housing
Projects Pvt. Ltd. vs. CCI and others and W.P.(C) 10948/2024 titled as CREDAI NCR vs.
CCI and others] wherein the Hon’ble High Court has directed the Commission to bestow
its urgent consideration to the matter.
3. The Commission considered the matter in its ordinary meeting held on 16.07.2025 and
decided to club Case No. 16 of 2025 with Case No. 14 of 2025 in terms of the proviso of
Case No. 14 of 2025 and Case No. 16 of 2025 Page 3 of 17
Section 26(1) of the Act, considering that the subject matter of the Information in both
the cases, was substantially the same.
4. The Commission also decided to forward a copy of the Information to the OPs to seek
their comments/reply within 8 weeks from the date of receipt of the order.
Facts, as stated in the Information
5. Informant No. 1 is a real estate developer in Haryana and has developed various projects
such as ILD Trade Centre, ILD Grand, and ILD Spire Greens etc. Informant No. 2 is the
National Capital Region (“NCR”) chapter of the CREDAI, which is an apex organisation
representing more than 11,940 real estate developers spread across 23 states.
6. OP-1 is the nodal department of the Government of Haryana (“Government”),
empowered to regulate urban development in the State of Haryana. The department also
renders advisory services to various corporations and boards such as OP-2, Housing
Board of Haryana, Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation
Ltd. and Haryana State Marketing Board. It is also stated that OP-1 performs the following
specific functions:
•
Regulating development of colonies to prevent ill-planned and haphazard
urbanization in or around the towns under the provisions of the Haryana
Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 (“Haryana Development
Act”/ “HDRUA Act”);
•
Prevention of unauthorized and haphazard construction and regulation of planned
urban development under the provision of Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled
Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development Act, 1963 (“Punjab Act”) by
declaring controlled areas around towns and public institutions, preparation of their
development and sectoral plans for planned urban development; and
•
Prevention of unauthorized constructions and regulation of planned urban
development under the provisions of the Punjab New Capital Periphery (Control)
(Haryana Amendment) Act, 1971 applicable to the areas around Chandigarh in
Panchkula District.
7. OP-2 (formerly known as Haryana Urban Development Authority) was created under the
Haryana Urban Development Authority Act, 1977 (“HUDA Act”) to consolidate the task
of planned development of urban areas which was previously being undertaken by
individual government departments. As per the HUDA Act, the objectives and functions
of OP-2 include:
•
To promote and secure development of urban areas in a systematic and planned
way with the power to acquire, sell and dispose of property, both movable and
immovable;
•
Use the acquired land for residential, industrial, recreational and commercial
purposes;
Case No. 14 of 2025 and Case No. 16 of 2025 Page 4 of 17
•
To make available developed land to Haryana Housing Board and other bodies for
providing houses to economically weaker sections of the society; and
•
To undertake building works.
8. The Director of OP-1 is obligated under the Punjab Act to prepare a plan in the prescribed
manner showing the controlled area and signifying therein, the nature of restrictions and
conditions proposed to be made applicable to the controlled area and submit the said plan
to the Government. Under the Punjab Act, the Government may by notification, declare
an area within eight kilometers on the outer sides of the boundary of any town or an area
within two kilometers on the outer sides of the boundary of any industrial or housing
estate, public institution or an ancient and historical monument, as a controlled area.
9. Under Section 62(3) of the HUDA Act, the Government has created a Local Development
Authority (“LDA”) which “shall be a body corporate laying perpetual succession and a
common seal with power to acquire hold and dispose of property, movable and immovable
and to contract and shall by the same name sue and be sued”. The LDA is required to
prepare a Master Plan (“Master Plan”), which needs to be approved by the Government.
10. Once the Master Plan is published by the Director of OP-1, through a gazette notification,
interested developers may apply to obtain licences. The selected Developer
(“Developer”) would have to pass through several stages of approval before a Letter of
Intent (“LOI”) is issued by the Director of OP-1 for developing group housing projects.
After issuance of LOI, a Bilateral Agreement (“Bilateral Agreement”) is executed
between the Developer and the Government acting through OP-1, subsequent to which a
Licence (“Licence”) is issued to the Developer.
11. As per the Information, under the HDRUA Act, a Developer is obligated to:
•
pay prescribed conversion and service charges and furnish a bank guarantee equal
to twenty-five percent of the estimated cost of development works;
•
pay External Development Charges (“EDC”) and Infrastructure Development
Charges (“IDC”) (as defined under Section 2 of the HDRUA Act);
•
Construct at its own cost schools, hospitals, community centers and other
community buildings on the lands set apart for this purpose, or to transfer to the
Government at any time, if so desired by the Government, free of cost;
12. As per the Information, under Section 5 of the HDRUA Act and Rule 11 and 12 of the
HDRUA Rules, a Developer has the following obligations:
•
deposit 30% of the amount received, from time to time, from plot-holders within a
period of 10 days of its realisation in a separate account to be maintained in a
scheduled bank. This amount shall only be utilised towards meeting the cost of
infrastructure development works in the colony;
•
undertake to pay proportionate development charges if the main lines of roads,
drainage, sewerage, water supply and electricity are to be laid out and constructed
by the Government or any other local authority. The proportion in which and the
time within which such payment is to be made shall be determined by the Director
of OP-1;
Case No. 14 of 2025 and Case No. 16 of 2025 Page 5 of 17
•
pay development charges including the cost of development of State/National
Highways, Transport, Irrigation and Power facilities as determined by the Director;
•
the licence granted shall be valid for 2 years, during which period all development
works in the colony shall be completed.
13. The HDRUA Act allows for Developers to pass on the burden of payment of such charges
including service charges, to the consumers. It is alleged that the HDRUA Act and the
Rules lay down the quantum of charges and the timelines within which the same must be
paid by the Developers, without laying down the timelines within which the OPs must
carry out the corresponding development works.
14. The LOI provides for fulfilment of conditions including submission of bank guarantee
towards EDC and IDC and signing of agreements between the Developer and OP-1. The
LOI also specifies the rates for payment of various charges and fees including, conversion
charge, licence fees, scrutiny fees, IDC and EDC. IDC and EDC are charged for
infrastructure and external development works, respectively.
15. External development works as per Section 2(g) of the HDRUA Act, include water
supply, sewerage, drains, necessary provision of treatment and disposal of sewage, sullage
and storm water, roads, electrical works, etc. and any other work specified by the Director
of OP-1 to be executed in the periphery of or outside colony/area, for the benefit of the
colony/area. Infrastructure development works, as per Section 2(i) of the HDRUA Act,
include metalling of road, paving footpaths, planting trees, street lighting etc. and any
other work the Director of OP-1 may think to be necessary for proper development of a
colony.
16. As averred in the Information, EDC would either be paid upfront or in instalments every
6 months for 5 years, while IDC is required to be paid in 2 instalments within 60 days of
receipt of Licence. Such EDC for the industrial area/colony would be subject to
proportionate increase in rates (which may be updated by adding 10% compounding
interest), and the IDC would be worked out on an actual basis. These charges are pre-
determined by the Director of OP-1 at the time of drafting the Master Plan and there is no
possibility/provision for negotiation of the same. Further, under the Licence and LOI,
these rates can also be revised after the execution of the agreement and are payable by the
Developer.
17. The Informant has made specific reference to the Sohna Master Plan 2031 issued on
15.11.2012 (“Sohna Master Plan”), under Section 73 of the HDURA Act. Many
Developers submitted bids on the belief that activities as set out in the Sohna Master Plan,
would be carried out. Once Developers fulfilled the conditions stipulated under the
HDURA Act and the Rules, LOI were executed between each Developer and the Director
of OP-1. Subsequently, Licences were granted to several Developers under the Sohna
Master Plan.
18. The Informants have raised concerns in relation to the entire legal and contractual
framework for development of urban areas in the State of Haryana, the terms and
conditions set out in the LOI and the Licence for development of a project and
Case No. 14 of 2025 and Case No. 16 of 2025 Page 6 of 17
implementation of provisions of these documents, including of the Master Plan itself. The
specific issues raised by the Informants, are as follows:
(a) EDC and IDC are being levied with no corresponding development work by the OPs,
which is causing prejudice to the Developers and in turn, to various apartment
owners/real estate consumers;
(b) OP-1 wields significant discretion in relation to EDC and IDC. Under the HDRUA
Act, OP-1 has discretion and power to determine the proportion and the time frame
within which EDC and IDC are to be paid;
(c) Under the terms of the Bilateral Agreement with OP-1, EDC is subject to revision as
per the actual charges incurred including any enhanced land acquisition costs, which
would be worked out later and the coloniser shall be liable to pay an additional amount
as and when directed by the Director of OP-1. The assumptions on costs or timelines
with respect to the development of infrastructure, are not disclosed; and
(d) Additionally, licence agreement also states that the Developer shall make
arrangements for water supply, sewerage, drainage, etc. to the satisfaction of OP-1,
till these services are made available from the external infrastructure to be laid down
by OP-2.
19. As per the Information, the OPs are "enterprise" within the meaning of Section 2(h) of
the Act. The Informant averred that HDRUA Act grants OPs the authority to issue
Licences to Developers seeking to convert and develop land into housing colonies in the
State of Haryana, making them the exclusive administrative body empowered to provide
such services. Consequently, Developers intending to undertake development within
Haryana, must approach the OPs for authorisation, as state-level licensing bodies function
independently with no inter-substitutability of services across states. Accordingly, the
relevant market in the present case is delineated as the “market for development of
infrastructure and real estate in Haryana”.
20. OP-2 is empowered under the HUDA Act to grant Licences to Developers for undertaking
real estate development in the State of Haryana, and this licensing power has been
delegated to OP-1 under Section 51(1) of the HUDA Act, enabling OP-2 to issue LOIs
and subsequently grant Licences for colony development. The OPs are the authorities
vested with exclusive statutory powers to grant such Licences. Developers, as consumers
of these services, are dependent on the Director of OP-1 for obtaining Licences necessary
to undertake development activities in Haryana. Given their statutory exclusivity, scale,
and structural position as the only entities authorised to regulate and permit development,
the OPs enjoy a dominant position in the “market for development of infrastructure and
real estate in Haryana”.
21. With regard to abuse of dominant position under Section 4 of the Act, the Informants have
referred to clauses/terms of a template LOI issued by the Director of OP-1 in favour of a
Developer for development of a Group Housing Colony in the revenue estate of Tehsil
Sohna, Gurgaon District in Haryana (“Sohna LOI”); a template of the Bilateral
Agreement signed between the Developer and the Governor of Haryana, acting through
OP-1 (“Sohna Agreement”) and the template for LC-IV Licence granted by OP-1 to the
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Developer, as per Rule 12 of the Rules (“Sohna Licence”) highlighting unfair and
discriminatory conduct of the OPs.
22. The unfair and discriminatory terms under Sohna LOI, as highlighted by the Informants,
are reproduced as under:
“4.
To furnish an undertaking that you shall deposit Rs. Account of Infrastructural
Development Charges @ Rs. On per Sqm for 175% FAR of group housing
component and @ Rs. Per Sqm for 150% FAR of commercial component in two
equal instalments. First within 60 days from issuance of license and second
within six months through Bank Draft in favor of the Director, Town & Country
Planning, Haryana payable at Chandigarh. In failure of which, an interest @
18% per annum of delay shall be paid.”
“5.a. That you will complete the demarcation at site within 7 days and will submit
the Demarcation Plan in the office of District Town Planner, Gurgaon within
15 days of issuance of this memo"
“23.
To furnish an undertaking that the rates of license fee has been revised/
approved by the Govt. and the additional amount of license fee be deposited as
per revised rates within a period of 30 days, as and when demanded by the
Department.”
“24.
To furnish an undertaking that you will submit the detailed status/record
regarding acquisition of land, along existing revenue rasta for its widening,
from the concerned Department. Applicant will not object the acquisition of
road widening ....”
“28.
To furnish an undertaking that the provision of External Development Facilities
may take long time by HUDA, the Applicant Company shall not claim any
damages against the Department for loss occurred if any.”
“30.
The rates of the External Development Charges are being finalized soon. In the
event of increase of External Development Charges rates, you will have to
deposit enhanced rates and also to submit the proportionate additional bank
guarantee on account of enhanced rate of External Development Charges as
and when demanded. The undertaking shall be submitted in this regard."
23. The unfair and discriminatory terms under Sohna Agreement as highlighted by the
Informants are:
“1.vi. That in the event of increase in EDC rates, the colonizer shall pay the
enhanced amount of EDC and the interest on instalment from the date of grant
of license and shall furnished the Additional Bank Guarantee, if any, on the
enhanced EDC rates…..
