KARACHI: Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) Chairperson Rahat Kaunain Hassan on Friday said cartels must be busted with strict enforcement of competition law for prices to go down by 25-30 per cent.
In an advocacy session held at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), she said the commission had imposed penalties of around Rs70 billion for different violations of the Competition Act on various sectors since its inception in 2007.
She, however, deplored that the recovery remained paltry because most of the undertakings had challenged the CCP’s orders in the higher courts. “The real effectiveness of the CCP’s orders will be felt once the judicial review process is complete, particularly in the cartel cases that call for prioritisation for the harm it incurs to the economy,” she added
However, she noted that without strict enforcement of the law, a competition culture cannot prevail. As an institution, the CCP is accountable for its mandate, but in pending cases, the review process has to take its course, she stressed.
Ms Hassan said that as against the general impression, the CCP is not a price regulator, but it only intervenes where the prices of goods and services are affected by anti-competitive practices such as abuse of dominance and cartelisation.
The main job of CCP is to make sure that markets are functioning in compliance with the competition rules and regulations. The CCP is not against businesses rather the Competition Law is pro-business and pro-growth.
KCCI members brought several issues and competition-related matters to the CCP’s notice. The chairperson offered that the CCP can change its regulations to exempt the KCCI from charging a fee for filing formal complaints in endeavoring to address the concern in resolving competition issues.
She said that the informant reward scheme and leniency provisions are available which the business community can benefit from and help the CCP in identifying the anti-competitive issues.
Earlier, President KCCI Muhammad Idrees welcomed the CCP’s decision of launching two draft studies in the small and medium enterprises and ecommerce sectors offering solid recommendations which would surely create a level playing field and highlight possible competition concerns in the e-commerce/online market.
Published in Dawn,June 18th, 2022
