ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) imposed penalties of Rs 2.363 billion, recovered Rs 932.56 million, and issued 47 show cause notices to undertakings involved in cartelization, price-fixing, prohibited agreements, and deceptive marketing practices.
During 2025, the CCP made significant progress in reducing its court case backlog by 70 percent. Through early hearing applications, the appointment of competent lawyers, and effective follow-up, the Commission secured decisions in 434 cases out of a total backlog of 567 cases as of August 2023. This represents an average of almost one case resolved every two days.
Moreover, the Commission passed eleven orders under the Competition Act, 2010. These included five orders related to cartelization and prohibited agreements and four orders for deceptive marketing. One order in the FMCG sector set aside a show-cause notice due to lack of evidence. The CCP also granted second-phase merger approval for the acquisition of Telenor Pakistan and Orion Towers by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited. The PTCL–Telenor transaction order was highly complex, involving assessment across five different markets, and was one of the most distinctive transactions globally.
In 2025, the Commission imposed penalties amounting to Rs2.363 billion across key sectors. These included Rs 1.562 billion on Aisha Steel Mills Limited and International Steels Limited for price-fixing, Rs 375 million on the Fertilizer Manufacturers of Pakistan Advisory Council and six member companies for collusive practices, and Rs155 million on the Pakistan Poultry Association and eight Day Old Chicks (DOC) companies for fixing prices.
Penalties were also imposed on Hyundai Nishat Motors, Al-Ghazi Tractors, British Lyceum, Kingdom Valley, pharmaceutical distributors, and transporters’ associations for deceptive marketing and prohibited agreements.
As part of its enforcement actions in 2025, the CCP issued 47 show-cause notices. These included 14 notices for deceptive marketing involving FMCG companies, certification services, and veterinary medicine suppliers. Twenty notices were issued to school systems for anti-competitive practices. Thirteen notices were issued under Section 4 for cartelization, including notices to ten sugar mills, two steel mills, and an edible oil transporters’ association. Most of these enforcement actions were directly related to safeguarding the general public and consumer interests.
On the compliance front, the CCP recovered Rs 932.56 million during 2025 through active adjudication and enforcement follow-up. This raised total penalty recoveries to over Rs 1.194 billion in the last two years, compared to Rs 200 million recovered in the previous 17 years since the Commission’s inception.
The Commission reviewed 159 mergers across 34 sectors, including energy and power, telecommunications, services, industrial and manufacturing, financial services, consumer goods, and real estate. Key transactions reviewed during this period included the PTCL–Telenor acquisition, Shell Pakistan’s acquisition by Wafi Energy, SadaPay share transfer, Lotte Chemical Pakistan transaction, Total Parco restructuring, and the TCS Logistics acquisition.
Building on this momentum, the CCP aims to further strengthen the impact of its enforcement nationwide. The Commission plans to establish offices in major cities to enhance market outreach, improve stakeholder engagement, and ensure more effective enforcement across Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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