Plea against taxi services merger

LAHORE:The Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought reply from Competition Commission of Pakistan on a petition challenging commission’s order that approved android application-based taxi service merger.

Advocate Shabbir Ismail filed the petition in public interest through chairman judicial activism panel advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique, pleading that Section 11 of CCP Act, 2010, explained that no merger would be allowed which substantially lessens competition by creating or strengthening a dominant position in the relevant market. It further prohibited monopoly of a single company and provided equal opportunities of competition to all companies providing the same services, he added.

He argued that both services were sharing 96 percent market of online taxi service providers and people were getting reasonable prices for their rides. He said CCP on January 31, 2020, approved the merger of both companies which shut the door of fair and healthy competition in the market of on-line taxi service providers.

The petitioner’s counsel requested the court to set aside CCP’s order regarding approval of taxi service merger. After hearing preliminary arguments, Justice Jawad Hasaan issued notice to CCP, requiring it to file a reply by 7 October.