On May 24, 2019, CCI at the outset dismissed allegations of anti-competitive agreement and abuse of dominant position against Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (‘Indiabulls’) filed by Mr. Kanhaiya Singhal (‘Informant’).[1]

The allegations pertained to a loan agreement executed between the Informant and Indiabulls. The Informant’s primary grievance was the frequent and arbitrary revision in the rate of interest on the home loan which increased from 8.75% to 11.15% within four months for the Informant. Further, it was alleged that the Loan Agreement comprised clauses which raised competition concerns in India and contravene the provisions of the Act. The Informant further alleged that despite a drop in market rate of interest by the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’), Indiabulls did not reduce the rate of interest which was because of its dominant position.

Based on its assessment, CCI did not find the existence of any ‘agreement’ (either at competitor level or at a buyer-supplier level) that could be brought under the purview of Section 3 of the Act, and therefore dismissed the allegations of the Informant under Section 3. In its assessment with respect to allegations of abuse of dominant position, CCI defined the relevant market as the market for provision of home loans in India. Owing to Indiabulls’s low market share (1.37%) in such market, CCI observed that Indiabulls was not dominant in the relevant market and thus dismissed the allegation of abuse of dominance as well.

[1] Case No. 11 of 2019