CCP slaps Rs1bn fine on cartels, deceptive advertisers

ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) issued 12 major orders during FY2024-25, imposing penalties worth Rs1.007 billion on businesses involved in anti-competitive practices across key sectors including fertilisers, poultry, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, real estate, food, hygiene products, paints, and education.

The Commission strengthened its enforcement arm and streamlined hearings by curbing unnecessary delays. The fast-track approach is helping the CCP resolve cases swiftly and enforce the law more effectively.

Out of the 12 orders issued, eight were related to deceptive marketing. Three orders involved cartelisation and price fixing. One order was issued on the direction of the Lahore High Court to address the issue of CCP’s 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, the CCP fined six urea manufacturers and their trade group a total of Rs375 million for price-fixing. Each company was fined Rs50 million; their association was fined Rs75 million.

Another major penalty of Rs155 million was slapped on eight poultry hatcheries for fixing prices of day-old broiler chicks. In deceptive marketing cases, a company was fined Rs150 million for false claims about its housing project. Two companies were fined Rs75 million each for marketing frozen desserts as ice cream, while one of them also faced an additional Rs60 million penalty for deceptive ads for its products.

A tractor manufacturing company was fined Rs40 million for false fuel efficiency claims. A company received a Rs25 million fine for misleading ads about its SUV. A pharmaceutical company 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). A school and a paint company were fined Rs5 million each for publishing misleading advertisements.

“Cartelisation is a serious offence and will not be tolerated,” warned CCP Chairman Dr Kabir Sidhu. “Cartels harm economic growth, violate consumer rights, and deter new investment,” he said. He stated that association platforms must not be used for price collusion or to facilitate market abuse, which leads to the exploitation of the entire nation.