The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) is imposing Rs1.007 billion penalties on businesses involved in anti-competitive practices across key sectors.
\nThe CCP issued 12 major orders during FY 2024-25, imposing penalties worth Rs1.007 billion on businesses involved in anti-competitive practices across key sectors, including fertilizers, poultry, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, real estate, food, hygiene products, paints, and education.
\nThe Commission has strengthened its enforcement arm and streamlined hearings by curbing unnecessary delays.
\nThis fast-track approach is helping CCP resolve cases swiftly and enforce the law more effectively.
\nOut of the 12 orders issued, eight were related to deceptive marketing.
\nThree orders involved cartelization and price fixing. One order was issued on the direction of the Lahore High Court to address the issue of CCP\u2019s jurisdiction in a case involving the deceptive and fraudulent use of a trademark under Section 10(2) of the Competition Act. In a landmark case, CCP fined six urea manufacturers and their trade group\u2014Fertilizer Manufacturers of Pakistan Advisory Council (FMPAC)\u2014a total of Rs375 million for price-fixing. Each company was fined Rs50 million; the association was fined Rs75 million.
\nAnother major penalty of Rs155 million was slapped on eight poultry hatcheries for fixing prices of day-old broiler chicks. In deceptive marketing cases, Kingdom Valley was fined Rs150 million for false claims about its housing project. Unilever and Friesland Campina Engro were fined Rs75 million each for marketing frozen desserts as ice cream. Unilever also faced an additional Rs60 million penalty for deceptive ads for Lifebuoy products.
\nAl-Ghazi Tractors was fined Rs40 million for false fuel efficiency claims. Hyundai Nishat Motors received a Rs25 million fine for misleading ads about the Hyundai Tucson SUV. 3N Lifemed Pharmaceuticals was fined Rs20 million for using fake certification for dialysis machines. The fine was later reduced to Rs2 million by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT). British Lyceum and Diamond Paints were fined Rs5 million each for publishing misleading advertisements.
\n\u201cCartelization is a serious offence and will not be tolerated,\u201d warned CCP Chairman Dr. Kabir Sidhu. \u201cCartels harm economic growth, violate consumer rights, and deter new investment,\u201d he said. He further emphasized that association platforms must not be used for price collusion or to facilitate market abuse, which leads to the exploitation of the entire nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) is imposing Rs1.007 billion penalties on businesses involved in anti-competitive practices across key sectors. The CCP issued 12 major orders during FY 2024-25, imposing penalties worth Rs1.007 billion on businesses involved in anti-competitive practices across key sectors, including fertilizers, poultry, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, real estate, food, hygiene products, paints, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293095,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-490178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n