ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has recovered Rs 495 million in penalties from Long Distance International (LDI) operators in the long-running International Clearing House (ICH) case.
The recovery follows the Competition Appellate Tribunal’s decision, which upheld CCP’s 2013 order that had declared the ICH arrangement illegal and anti-competitive.
The ICH agreement, implemented in 2012, required that all international incoming calls be routed exclusively through a single PTCL-operated gateway. Other operators shut down their international gateways and joined PTCL in forming a consortium.
Under this arrangement, LDI operators collectively fixed call termination rates at 8.8 USD cents per minute — more than four times the previous average of around 2 cents. This cartel eliminated competition in the LDI market, drastically raised the cost of overseas calls, and boosted operator revenues by more than 300 percent.
CCP’s investigation into the ICH case began in 2012 after receiving complaints from consumers and stakeholders regarding the sudden spike in international call rates. The inquiry revealed that the ICH arrangement artificially restricted supply by closing competing gateways and funnelling all traffic through PTCL. The uniform rate of 8.8 cents was not market-driven but collectively agreed upon by all LDI operators. Overseas Pakistanis and businesses bore the brunt of inflated call charges, while domestic consumers faced reduced connectivity options. The consortium allocated quotas and revenue shares among operators, effectively dividing the market.
In its findings, CCP concluded that the arrangement constituted a cartel in violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010, which prohibits agreements that prevent, restrict, or reduce competition.
In April 2013, CCP imposed penalties equivalent to 7.5 percent of the annual turnover of each LDI operator involved in the ICH arrangement. The penalties were based on the seriousness of the infringement and the scale of consumer harm.
The operators challenged CCP’s decision before the Competition Appellate Tribunal. After years of litigation, the Tribunal upheld CCP’s findings but adjusted the penalty structure — reducing it to 2 percent of revenues generated specifically from the ICH arrangement. Importantly, the Tribunal ordered operators to deposit the fines within 30 days.
The recovery process against other operators is continuing in compliance with the Tribunal’s order.
Chairman CCP, Dr Kabir Sidhu, while commenting on the recovery, reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to ensuring a competitive marketplace.
He emphasized that business forums and industry platforms can play a positive role in sharing information and promoting transparency, but warned that they must never be used for price coordination, collusion, market abuse, or consumer exploitation. “The CCP will not hesitate to enforce the law against any arrangement that manipulates markets or harms consumers,” Dr Sidhu declared.
The amount included Rs 458 million from Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Rs 37 million from M/s Link Dot Net.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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