The competition agency of Gambia has requested the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to impart it technical training in key areas such as detecting cartelisation and anti-competitive practices, etc, to its high level officials. Talking to Business Recorder here on Thursday, CCP Chairperson Rahat Kaunain Hassan said the Gambian agency's trust reflects global recognition of the Commission.
Young competition agencies seem highly impressed with our performance as various agencies continued seeking guidance from the CCP, she added. She said 17 heads and high officials of competition agencies from around the world have agreed to participate in the upcoming international conference being organised by CCP in collaboration with Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF)/USAID. Participants from countries such as USA, Brazil, France, India, Malaysia, Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, The Gambia, Indonesia, Turkey, Singapore, Morocco, and South Africa have expressed their interest in the conference.
The commitment shown by 17 competition agencies to participate in the conference clearly reflected that something is very positive about the CCP, which is attracting the heads of the foreign agencies to attend the conference in the current circumstances. Asked about the Commission's financial position and update on the issue of payment of three percent of fee and charges by five regulatory agencies to the Commission as stipulated in the law, Chairperson CCP stated that it is the statutory requirement for the regulatory bodies to submit three percent of the fee/charges on annual basis.
The CCP had informed the Law and Justice Division that the federal government, under section 20 of the Competition Act, 2010, fixed a percentage of fees and charges levied by five regulatory agencies ie SECP, Ogra, PTA, Pemra and Nepra, for contribution to the Commission Fund. The regulatory bodies would have to deposit the fee sooner or later. However, it has yet to be seen who would take the lead in payment of 3 percent fee/charges as admissible under the law.
The regulatory agencies have not complied with the statutory requirements and raised certain objections/queries, which were received in the Finance Division for clarification. The queries made by them were referred to the Law & Justice Division for opinion. The observations/queries made by the aforesaid agencies have been examined thoroughly in light of the facts and law. The comments of the commission have also been forwarded to the Law Division for finalisation of the comments. It will be much appreciated if the opinion of the Law & Justice Division is communicated to the Finance Division at the earliest, enabling it to implement the decision of the Government, as the Commission is facing acute financial constraint as a result of non-recovery of 3 percent of the fees and charges of the aforesaid agencies since 2008-09, the CCP added.
On the issue, Ministry of Finance fully supports the CCP for collection of fee/charges from the regulators. Despite total support of the Finance Ministry, the regulators are still reluctant to pay the due amount. The objections raised by the regulators are still pending before the Law and Justice Division for last four months and so far the Division has not finalised its comments.
Sources said that the financial autonomy of the CCP is necessary for smooth functioning of the Commission, but the regulators have not yet paid any amount on account of fee/charges collected and the matter is pending before the Law and Justice Division. The laws administered by the relevant regulatory bodies will not require amendment prior to any payment to CCP of such percentage of fee and charges collected by the regulatory body concerned. The Competition Act 2010, under section 59 thereof, has been given an overriding effect and is binding for all. Sources said that the claim by any regulatory authority that they are regulating the competition and protecting the interests of consumers parallel to the Competition Act is misconceived and such overlapping does not create any conflict as both are operating in their distinct domain and there are distinct violations under each law.
She was confident that the regulatory bodies have started submitting references to the CCP for obtaining its legal opinion, which is a very positive sign. It would be highly appreciated that who would first comply with the statutory requirements of the law by depositing 3 percent fee/charges.
Rahat said that several steps have been taken to make CCP more accessible to the public and stakeholders. "Shifting from diplomatic enclave to the ISE Towers in Blue Area has rendered CCP more visible and accessible besides saving costs. The CCP has saved around Rs 30 million due to shifting from diplomatic enclave to the new office.
About the status of cases of alleged cartelisation, the CCP Chairperson said that in all cartels cases, the parties concerned have obtained stay orders from the courts. The cases in sectors of LPG, sugar, telecom, dredging, ports, stock exchanges, poultry and other sectors have obtained stay orders from the courts. She was confident that the establishment of an independent "Competition Appellate Tribunal" would expedite clearance of pending cases at the level of judicial fora.