The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has launched an investigation into deceptive marketing practices by beauty products manufacturers, issuing notices to 12 companies for false and misleading claims.
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CCP Proposal of Expiry Date on Cement Bags Endorsed
Islamabad, May 2, 2024 – The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) has supported a recommendation from the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to revise national cement standards to include manufacturing and expiry dates on cement bags.
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CCP Recommends Printing Expiry Date on Cement Bags
Islamabad, April 16, 2024 – In a bid to enhance consumer protection and promote transparency in the cement industry, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has advocated for the mandatory printing of expiry dates on cement bags.
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CCP Launches Competition Assessment of Digital Markets
Islamabad, April 5, 2024 – The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has announced the launch of a comprehensive study titled “Competition Assessment of Digital Markets and Digital Services in Pakistan.”
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CCP Issues Notices to Fertilizer Manufacturers for Price Fixing
Islamabad, April 2, 2024 – The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has taken decisive action against the Fertilizer Manufacturers of Pakistan Advisory Council (FMPAC) and six major fertilizer companies for allegedly engaging in price fixing practices regarding urea, a move that could have far-reaching consequences for both farmers and consumers.
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Pakistan Okays Microfinance Bank Acquisition by Dutch Company
Islamabad, March 14, 2024 – Pakistan has given the green light for the acquisition of a local microfinance bank by a Dutch-based holding company, marking a significant development in the country’s financial landscape.
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Fertilizer Companies Manipulate Prices, CCP Recommends Action
Islamabad, July 12, 2023 – The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has uncovered evidence of price manipulation by fertilizer companies, resulting in substantial profits at the expense of farmers and consumers.
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CCP initiates probe against Foodpanda for discriminatory practices
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Wednesday said it initiated a probe against the online food delivery service platform/aggregator, Foodpanda, to investigate its alleged abuse of dominant position and possible violation of prevailing laws, in the market of online food delivery platforms.
The CCP said that the enquiry committee will also review and place before the commission, its findings, whether the exemption granted (for loyalty agreements) to Foodpanda in April 2019 for the period of three years is impeding competition in any manner in light of concerns highlighted by various market players.
The CCP launched the investigation on the formal complaints filed by Foodpanda’s competitor M/s. Cheetay Logistics Pakistan Limited on May 04, 2021, and the All Pakistan Restaurant Association (APRA) on June 10, 2021. Formerly, a complaint was also filed by another online food aggregator, Careem Networks Pakistan (Private) Limited, pertaining to the exemption granted to same aggregator in 2019.
The CCP’s Cartel and Trade Abuse Department conducted a preliminary fact-finding exercise and found that Foodpanda seems to have a dominant position in the market of online food delivery platforms with a considerable amount of admitted volume of 100,000 per day food orders from different restaurants/outlets/food chains across the country. Regarding the alleged abuse of dominant position, the concerns include: charging exorbitant commissions; offering fidelity rebates; discriminatory practices; setting out various discounts to exploit participants; and entering into exclusivity with parties through loyalty agreements.
These concerns stretch the scope of abuse to being a barrier for the new entrants in the market of online food delivery platforms.
The enquiry committee has already been working on the case, consulting all the concerned parties and seeking relevant information for deliberating the matter objectively, the CCP said.
Findings of the enquiry upon conclusion will be placed before the commission for its decision.
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CCP directs DHA to give ROW to Nayatel
KARACHI: Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Tuesday directed the management of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) – I Islamabad to provide a level playing field for Nayatel by giving right of way (ROW) to provide its cable internet and telephony services on the same terms and conditions as are being offered to other existing operators.
The CCP conducted an enquiry after taking a suo motor notice of the complaints and concerns received from the residents of DHA-I Islamabad, stating that had been deprived of an alternate choice of CIT services provider, which was restricted to only two operators i.e. Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and DHAI Teleman.
They alleged that DHA was not letting Nayatel to operate in the area despite the company’s interest to provide its services.
The ROW is a platform for internet service providers for the provision of CIT services.
According to the complaints, DHA management had given ROW to PTCL and DHAI Teleman in DHA-1 while denying the same to Nayatel on equal terms and conditions.
It was alleged that DHA’s management had created a barrier to entry for Nayatel by offering dissimilar conditions and demanding a higher price of ROW that the already existing internet service providers.
The CCP’s enquiry concluded that DHA management, prima facie, abused its position in violation of Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2010 by not allowing Nayatel to operate in the relevant market and recommended to initiate proceedings against DHA under Section 30 of the Act.
After hearing the parties, the bench passed the order, in which it applied the ‘essential facility doctrine’ to the matter and observed that in the current era, the CIT services are an essential need for the citizens, both for personal as well as commercial use.
The order further stated that the residents of DHA-I were demanding CIT services from Nayatel, being a Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) based CIT service provider, however, DHA-I management, abusing its dominant position, refused to issue an NOC to Nayatel to install its infrastructure within DHA-I Phase-I and other sectors.
As per the order DHA-I held a dominant position in the relevant market and had already granted ROW to four parties i.e. PTCL, Transworld, Wateen and its very own subsidiary DHAI Teleman for providing (G-PON) and allied CIT services to the residents of DHA-I, the lincensee seeking the ROW was Nayatel.
The already existing service providers are on cost sharing basis with DHA-I rather than on a revenue sharing basis. The order observes that DHA-I has failed to explain any logic as to why there has been a disparity between the charges offered to Nayatel and other incumbents, which amounts to discrimination and application of dissimilar conditions to the same transaction, under Section 3(I), read with subsection 3(e) of the Act.
The order also finds support from the directive issued by the ministry of information technology and telecommunications in October 2020, called the “public and private right of way policy directive” which stated that ‘the public authority shall not discriminate any licensee towards charging of right way fee and there shall not be any differential or preferential treatment in right of way fee for any type of licensee including other utility service providers and those wholly or partially owned by the federal or provincial government or the public authority.
Keeping in view all circumstances and with a view to give a chance to DHA-I to correct its behavior and to offer Nayatel within 90 days from the date of the order to use the ROW on terms and conditions no less favorable than the incumbent service providers.
The CCP has not imposed any penalty on DHA for now. But in case of non-compliance, DHA-I shall be liable to pay Rs2 million for violating Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2010 in addition to appropriate penalties for non-compliance under Section 38 of the Act.
DHA-I has been further directed to file a compliance report before the registrar of the commission no later than 7 days from the date such offer is made to Nayatel.
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CCP issues notices to 19 poultry feed companies for cartelization
ISLAMABAD: Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Tuesday issued show cause notices to 19 poultry feed companies for collusive activities and entering into prohibited agreements.
A statement issued by the commission stated that it had taken suo motu notice of the concern and complaints regarding a concurrent increase in the feed prices and initiated an enquiry.
Data gathered from market sources showed that there was indeed a simultaneous increase in price by poultry feed mills and the average quantum of increase in price also appeared to be similar, which raised suspicion of collusive decision making and violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010.
The CCP said that from December 2018 to December 2020, the feed mills colluded to raise the poultry feed prices by Rs825 per 50 kilogram bag, thus making feed 32 percent costlier for the poultry farmers. “Moreover, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) for September 2020 shows that chicken prices rose by 18.31 percent and eggs by 5.2 percent. The rise in these prices coincided with an increase in feed prices by almost Rs100 per bag.”
In October 2020, the CCP said, after another price increase by poultry feed mills by Rs125 on layer and 175 on broiler feed, the chicken prices rose by 26.62 percent and eggs by 23.81 percent as compared to the previous month. In November 2020, the poultry feed prices rose again by Rs150 per bag, and the prices of chicken and eggs rose by 20.76 percent and 5.23 percent. In December 2020, another price increase in poultry feed by Rs250 per bag caused prices of chicken and eggs to rise by 3.21 percent and 14.08 percent, respectively.
Moreover, the CCP said, multiple sources shared the concerns that some of the top poultry feed mills were meeting at different locations and fixing the feed poultry feed prices. Therefore, exercising its powers under Section 34 of the Competition Act, 2010, the CCP on February 04, 2021 carried out search and inspection of two major poultry feed mills based in Rawalpindi and Lahore to impound the proofs of their suspected involvement in collusive activities and collective fixing of poultry feed rates. Two authorized team of the CCP conducted the inspection and successfully impounded the relevant record including computer-stored information.
“The impounded record revealed that officials of 19 feed mills were using an active WhatsApp group where one feed producer would announce its intended price increase and the rest expressing and sharing their willingness to follow suit.
“These discussions and decisions were implemented on the ground, as evidenced by the official price lists of these companies.”
The CCP said that based on the examination and review of the documents/material impounded during the raid, the enquiry report has been concluded.
According to the enquiry report, from December 2018 to December 2020, the poultry feed mills have acted in a collective manner to fix the price of poultry feed, which constitutes a prima facie violation of Section 4 of the Act.
Moreover, while poultry feed companies produce the poultry feed which are mostly located in Punjab, the feed is sold/supplied to poultry farms in Sindh and KPK to meet their requirements and therefore given the inter-provincial movement of poultry feed, any anticompetitive effects would have a spillover effect throughout Pakistan.
The feed companies have been called upon to show cause in writing within 14 days and to appear and place before the commission for hearing. Once the CCP’s bench concludes the hearings, it will pass the order under Section 31 of the Act.
The CCP said if proven, Section 4 violations entail a penalty of Rs75 million in case of a business association and up to 10 percent of the annual turnover or Rs75 million penalty in case of a company/business entity. The companies against whom proceedings are underway can also compete for leniency (reduction in or waiver of penalty) under the CCPs Leniency Regulations subject to provision of additional substantial information or evidence and acceptance by CCP.