ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) Tuesday informed Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb that the CCP has taken 23 major actions against cartels and companies involved in deceptive marketing practices during 2024.
Muhammad Aurangzeb, chaired a high-level meeting to review the performance of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP). The meeting focused on measures to enhance the CCP’s operational efficiency and institutional effectiveness in fulfilling its regulatory mandate.
CCP officials informed the Finance Minister that nine cases are related to cartelization and 14 cases involve deceptive marketing practices during this period. The cases related to merger control stood at eight during 2024.
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The CCP completed enquiries and found price fixing in flat steel market by major player, exclusive fuel supply agreement between aviation authority and a leading oil marketing company and refusal to deal by a leading player in telecom sector.
The ongoing enquiries in seven cases will be completed end of February 2025 and 3 enquires are pending due to litigation, CCP data revealed.
The meeting was attended by Chairman CCP, Dr. Kabir Sidhu, along with Members Mr. Saeed Ahmad Nawaz, Ms. BushraNaz Malik, Mr. Salman Amin, and Abdul Rashid Sheikh. The Special Secretary Finance and other senior officials from the Finance Division were also present. This meeting was a follow-up to the Minister’s visit to the CCP in the first week of December 2024.
The Finance Minister comprehensively reviewed the CCP’s departmental progress and discussed strategic initiatives to strengthen its enforcement framework. The Minister was briefed by each Member on the performance of their departments. Finance Minister reaffirmed Government’s commitment to enabling CCP in augmenting its institutional ability and capabilities.
Chairman CCP, Dr. Kabir Ahmed Sidhu, briefed the Minister on the Commission’s proactive enforcement efforts in identifying and addressing anti-competitive practices, including cartelization and trade abuse. Dr. Sidhu also provided an update on ongoing litigation, recoveries and adjudication matters.
Since his appointment almost 79 cases have been successfully concluded while others remain under active proceedings.
The discussion also focused on the appointment of the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT), emphasizing its crucial role in accelerating the resolution of competition-related cases and enhancing the enforcement of Competition Law.
The Finance Minister had previously facilitated the appointment of the Chairman and two Members of CAT. He reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the CCP in this regard.
The meeting served as a continuation of previous discussions aimed at reinforcing CCP’s mandate and expediting enforcement actions to ensure a competitive and transparent market environment.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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