Unless cartels in Pakistan’s economy feel the pinch, they will not mend their ways.
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to a news item in your paper of June 28 regarding a new rule of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) which allows violators of competition laws leniency — even after an order has been passed against them — if they ‘cooperate’ with the commission. In Pakistan, ‘cooperation’ has a dangerous connotation.
The purpose of the commission is to protect the consumer from cartels, given that the latter tend to use their market power to exploit consumers. Hence, an essential component of any effort by the CCP to carry out its job is transparency in its operations. Not only must consumers be protected, they must feel that they are being protected. This will be lost with the new rule.
Unless cartels in Pakistan’s economy feel the pinch, they will not mend their ways. Hence, this cooperation needs to be spelled out clearly so that there is no scope for any loophole.
Asghar Qadir
Centre for Advanced Mathematics & Physics
National University of Sciences & Technology
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2011.
