The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) took strong enforcement action in 2025 against cartelization, price fixing, and other anti-competitive practices to protect consumers and ensure fair markets. The CCP took this enforcement action in key sectors including sugar, steel, poultry, fertilizer, education, transport, advertising, power supply, and manufacturing.
According to a press release on Sunday, the authority issued show cause notices to ten sugar mills in Punjab for colluding on the start of the crushing season and fixing the sugarcane procurement price at Rs400 per maund.
The commission found that the mills jointly decided to delay crushing during a meeting held on November 10, 2025, in violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010.
In a major enforcement action, the CCP imposed heavy penalties on two steel mills for cartelization and price fixing. The mills were fined over Rs1,500 million after an inquiry found coordinated pricing, exchange of sensitive information, and an average steel price increase of 111 percent over three years.
To protect parents and students, the CCP issued show cause notices to seventeen major private school systems for abusing dominance by forcing parents to purchase expensive, logo-branded notebooks, workbooks, and uniforms from selected vendors.
In the poultry sector, it imposed a collective fine of Rs155 million on eight major poultry hatcheries for cartelization and price fixing of day-old broiler chicks, which contributed to higher poultry prices.
In the fertilizer sector, the CCP imposed penalties of Rs50 million each on six major urea manufacturers and Rs75 million on a leading industry association, totaling Rs375 million, for coordinated conduct that restricted competition.
It also fined the Transporters of Goods Association and the Local Goods Transport Association Rs5m each for rate fixing through collective decisions that restricted independent pricing by transporters.
Strong enforcement actions were also taken through raids and inspections.
The CCP conducted raids in Lahore on entities linked to cartelization in the out-of-home advertising market over alleged price fixing and bid coordination.
Similar raids were carried out on suppliers involved in transformer reclamation materials for power distribution companies over suspected bid rigging.
In Gujrat, the CCP conducted search and inspection operations at the premises of two electric fan manufacturers and their industry association over suspected cartelization and price fixing, securing documents and digital evidence.
Moreover, significant progress was made on the litigation front, as the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) upheld key cartelization cases. CAT disposed of the long-pending Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) cartel case, upheld the CCP’s findings, and ordered recovery of a reduced penalty of Rs25 million.Latest News, Breaking News & Top News Stories | The Express TribuneOur CorrespondentRead More
