The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) held an advocacy session with the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) where the representatives of the chamber apprised the CCP of different competition issues and sought its help in creating a level playing field and removing entry barriers in the different sectors.
From KCCI, the advocacy session was attended by President KCCI Muhammad Idrees, Vice President KCCI Qazi Zahid Hussain, KCCI Managing Committee Members, and from CCP by the Chairperson Ms. Rahat Kaunain Hassan, Member Mr. Mujtaba Ahmad Lodhi, and Director Generals Mr. Noman Laiq and Asfandyar Khattak.
While speaking on the occasion, Ms. Rahat Kaunain Hassan said that the CCP has imposed penalties of up to Rs70 billion for different violations of the Competition Act on various sectors. However, the recovery remains paltry due to the fact that most of the undertakings have challenged the CCP’s orders in the higher courts where the due process of judicial review is underway.
The real effectiveness of the CCP’s orders will be felt once the judicial review process is complete, particularly in the cartel cases, that call for prioritization for the harm it incurs to the economy, she added. The Chairperson further said that as an institution, the CCP is accountable for its mandate, but in the pending cases, the review process has to take its course.
Ms. Rahat Kaunain Hassan said that as against the general impression, the CCP is not a price regulator, but it only intervenes where the prices of goods and services are affected by anti-competitive practices such as abuse of dominance and cartelization.
