ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: Monopoly Control Authority will be upgraded to monitor and regulate the rise of cartels and mergers & acquisitions (M&As) in Pakistan, it was decided at a high level meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Shaukat Aziz held here on Tuesday, Dawn has learnt on good authority.

The meeting was attended by the minister for privatization, secretaries and other senior officers of various ministries.

Held after repeated postponements over the past couple of years, the agenda of the meeting included a discussion of a draft bill to amend the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Ordinance, 1969 which is awaiting approval for the last four years.

Earlier, the Chairman of Monopoly Control Authority (MCA), Saleem Asghar Mian had informed the meeting about the serious paucity of manpower faced by the authority. Some of the technical staff had been lured to greener pastures, while others including the registrar had retired or were about to retire.

Minister Aziz directed the MCA chief to submit a scheme with the estimate of expenditure so that necessary funds might be provided by his ministry. He particularly, advised him to appoint sector-specific analysts to facilitate the functioning of the authority and pay them wages on the basis of merit in order to attract the best possible talent.

With regard to the fate of the bill, the source disclosed that the Nawaz Sharif government had already removed from it the clauses relating to consumer protection and creation of infrastructure for the promotion of consumer activism in the country.

Adjudged to be too ambitious, the official quarters were of the view that these clauses were unimplementable because the consumer protection required a huge setup that would spread its arena of price control and protection of consumers down to the village level. This task could be performed more effectively and efficiently by the local councils already in place now.

As regards the MCA, it would leave the fixation of prices to the controller of prices, ministry of industries, irrespective of the fact that he has worked mostly as practically an office subservient to the profiteers and hoarders, observers of the national scene commented.

It was, therefore, decided to delete some of the clauses of the existing Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Ordinance, 1969, (MRTPO) that were found to be “anti-investor”. Instead, it would concentrate on curbing the formation of cartels and oversee the M&As.