NAA gave directions to DGAP to reinvestigate profiteering allegations against Supertech Ltd.

NAA gave directions to DGAP to reinvestigate profiteering allegations against Supertech Ltd.

The National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) gave directions to the Director General of Anti-Profiteering (DGAP) for reinvestigating the allegations related to profiteering against Supertech Ltd.

Mukesh Kumar (Applicant No. 1) submitted that a 2-BHK flat was booked by him from the Supertech Ltd. (Respondent) project "Eco Village-2" (project), situated in Greater Noida (West).

Applicant No. 1 alleged that the respondent did not pass the benefit of Input Tax Credit (ITC) to him by the way of commensurate reduction in price. According to the requisite provision of the Real Estate (Regulations and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA Act), it is a mandate for a real estate developer to maintain separate bank accounts for each of his projects registered separately under the RERA Act.

The NAA found that the respondent was required to maintain five separate bank accounts for its five phases constructed in the said project. However, according to the report submitted by DGAP, there was no such mention of separate accounts of the respondent.

The NAA headed by the Chairman Dr B.N. Sharma stated, "The compliance of the Respondent with the above-referred provisions of the RERA Act, becomes paramount and needs to be examined. Given this, there arises the need to revisit the investigation to ascertain if the Respondent has passed on the benefit of ITC to the homebuyers of the other 4 Phases of the impugned project by a commensurate reduction in the prices of the residential units supplied by him in terms of Section 171 of the CGST Act, 2017."

It was observed by NAA that the respondent did not comply with the provisions of the RERA Act that the entire project consists of five phases and it should be considered as a single project for the computation of profiteering, given that the Respondent has been maintaining a common ITC register/ITC ledger for all the phases of his said project and has been filing common GST Returns for all the phases of the said project. Hence, there is a need to examine the said issue.

NAA gave directions to the DGAP (Applicant No. 2) for reinvestigating into the allegations against the respondent as they have not complied with the provisions of the RERA Act. DGAP would reinvestigate the said issue under Rule 133 (4) of the CGST Rules, 2017.

It has to make sure that the Respondent should pass on the benefit of ITC to all its buyers by way of a commensurate reduction in the prices regarding all the residential units.