ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb directed the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Tuesday to expedite inquiries and investigations into cartelisation and collusion practices by adopting modern technologies and data analytics.

During his visit to the CCP headquarters, Chairman Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu gave the minister a comprehensive briefing on the commission’s performance and ongoing inquiries. Mr Aurangzeb assured CCP of the government’s full support, including budgetary provisions to digitalise the commission’s operations and implement international benchmarking practices to strengthen its capabilities.

“The government is determined to discipline the markets and stop illegal practices at any cost. The commission has the government’s full backing, and we expect the ongoing inquiries to be completed swiftly.

However, it is crucial that the due process is followed, and there is no harassment,” the minister stated.

Dr Sidhu apprised the minister that there was a backlog of 567 cases involving penalties worth Rs74 billion. Over the past year the commission made significant progress by recovering Rs100 million in penalties and resolving 73 court cases, he added.

He also provided details of pending cases, with 200 in the Supreme Court, 179 in the Competition Appellate Tribunal, and 146 in high courts. The minister was informed that a key development was the establishment of the Market Intelligence Unit (MIU), which has already identified over 150 instances of anti-competitive practices using advanced data collection and analysis techniques.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2024