CCP recovers Rs772m in ICH cartel case

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has recovered an additional Rs19 million from Multinet (Pvt) Ltd and Rs1.4 million from Voice Communications in the International Clearing House (ICH) case, bringing the total recoveries to Rs772 million.

The recoveries are part of penalties imposed on telecom companies involved in cartelization under the ICH arrangement, which was established in 2012 and eliminated competition in the international telephony market.

Under the ICH setup, all incoming international calls were routed through a single gateway managed by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL), resulting in fixed high call termination rates and reduced market efficiency.

CCP recovers Rs495m in ICH case from PTCL, Link Dot Net

The Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) later upheld CCP’s findings of cartelization and abuse of dominance, while revising the penalty to two percent of the revenues earned through the ICH arrangement. Following the ruling, the CCP initiated recovery proceedings against the operators.

Some companies have challenged the CAT decision before the Supreme Court of Pakistan; however, there is no restraining order in place, and the CCP continues to pursue recoveries in accordance with law.