Jute mills fined Rs23 million

Competition Commission penalises jute mills association to discourage cartelisation, malpractices in corporate sector.

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has penalised Pakistan Jute Mills Association (PJMA) in an effort to discourage cartelisation and malpractices in the corporate sector, disclosed CCP Chairperson Rahat Kaunain Hassan.

Speaking to members of the Lahore Economic Journalists Association here on Thursday, Hassan said that a penalty of Rs23 million was imposed on the association including its 10 member mills.

Regarding the fate of many high-profile cases in which businesses have been penalised, Hassan said that the penalised parties had exercised their right to appeal, which was a common practice worldwide.

She said the commission always tried to pursue all cases diligently, but the litigants were using every facility available in the law to drag the cases that could take several years.

However, final decisions on these cases would leave an impact on the competition and fair trade practices in the country.

“Whether the CCP orders are upheld or rejected, a judicial precedent would be set for future guidance of the CCP,” she added.

Hassan said “the CCP does not want to scare businesses but wants to discipline them.” She claimed that the commission’s policy of correcting business behaviour through dialogue had started producing results as several businesses had shown their willingness to curtail anti-competitive practices.

According to Hassan, on most of the occasions the commission did not impose any fine as the party agreed to remove the distortions identified by the CCP.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2011.