Islamabad, December 28, 2025 – The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) recorded significant enforcement achievements in 2025 by taking decisive action against cartelization, price fixing, and other anti-competitive practices across multiple sectors of the economy. These efforts aimed to protect consumers, promote fair competition, and strengthen market transparency.
According to a CCP press release issued on Sunday, strong enforcement measures were taken in key sectors including sugar, steel, poultry, fertilizer, education, transport, advertising, power supply, and manufacturing. In the sugar sector, CCP issued show-cause notices to ten sugar mills in Punjab for colluding on delaying the crushing season and fixing sugarcane procurement prices at Rs400 per maund. Investigations revealed that the mills jointly decided to delay crushing during a meeting held on November 10, 2025, in violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010.
In a landmark decision, CCP imposed substantial penalties on Aisha Steel Mills Limited and International Steels Limited for cartelization and price fixing. Aisha Steel Mills was fined Rs648 million, while International Steels faced a penalty of Rs914 million after the inquiry uncovered coordinated pricing practices and an average steel price increase of 111 percent over three years.
To safeguard parents and students, CCP issued show-cause notices to seventeen leading private school systems for abusing their dominant position by forcing parents to buy expensive logo-branded stationery and uniforms from designated vendors.
In the poultry sector, eight major hatcheries were collectively fined Rs155 million for cartelization and fixing prices of day-old broiler chicks, contributing to inflated poultry prices. Similarly, in the fertilizer sector, CCP imposed penalties totaling Rs375 million on six urea manufacturers and an industry association for coordinated conduct that restricted competition.
CCP also conducted raids and inspections in Lahore and Gujrat across advertising, power supply, and manufacturing sectors, securing critical documentary and digital evidence. On the litigation front, the Competition Appellate Tribunal upheld major CCP orders, reinforcing the regulator’s zero-tolerance policy against cartelization and reaffirming its commitment to competitive markets.