ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has intensified efforts to recover penalties imposed on Long Distance International (LDI) operators involved in the International Clearing House (ICH) cartel, even as several firms contest the decision in the Supreme Court.

In its latest action, the CCP has recovered Rs19 million from Multinet (Pvt) Ltd and Rs1.4m from Voice Communications, bringing total recoveries in the ICH case to Rs772m. The commission reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring full recovery from all penalised telecom operators.

The penalties stem from a 2012 investigation that found 14 LDI companies guilty of forming a cartel under the ICH arrangement, which eliminated competition in the international telephony market.

Under the ICH setup, all incoming international calls were routed through a single gateway managed by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL), resulting in fixed high termination rates and reduced market efficiency.

The Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) later upheld the CCP’s findings of cartelisation and abuse of dominance, while revising the penalty to two per cent of revenues earned through the ICH arrangement.

Following the tribunal’s decision, the CCP initiated recovery proceedings against PTCL, Multinet Pakistan, 4B Gentel International, Wi-tribe Pakistan, Dancom Pakistan, Wise Communication System, Worldcall Telecom, ADG (Pvt) Ltd, LinkdotNet Telecom, Telecard, Circle Net Communications, Wateen Telecom, Redtone Telecommunications, and Telenor LDI Communications. Although several companies have appealed to the Supreme Court, the CCP said there is no restraining order preventing recovery, and that it will continue enforcement “strictly in accordance with law”.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2025