AI tools used to unearth competition law breaches

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has detected more than 200 potential competition law violations and merger cases during the past two years using artificial intelligence and automated digital tools developed by its Market Intelligence Unit (MIU).

A paper titled "Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Detecting Anti-Competitive Activities: Pakistan's Journey towards Modernised Competition Enforcement," published in the Asia-Pacific Competition Update of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), outlines CCP's initiatives to strengthen and modernise its enforcement functions through the use of advanced technologies and AI-driven monitoring tools.

Pakistan's rapidly digitising markets and the surge in unstructured data from procurement, advertising and financial disclosures prompted the CCP to establish the Market Intelligence Unit in October 2023, shifting from complaint-based enforcement to proactive, AI-driven market monitoring.

The paper stated that the CCP's AI-driven monitoring systems identified 212 potential cases across multiple categories. These included 124 deceptive marketing cases, 58 merger and acquisition detections, 25 cartel and trade abuse cases and five exemption-related matters. The cases were flagged through automated market monitoring, data analytics and digital surveillance tools aimed at strengthening enforcement of the Competition Act.

One of CCP's key initiatives is an AI-driven public procurement monitoring system that analyses thousands of tender documents to detect suspicious bidding patterns and possible collusion. This system can process tens of thousands of records in hours instead of months of manual review.

The CCP has also introduced an automated digital market intelligence system that continuously monitors online advertisements, social media content and digital platforms to detect deceptive marketing practices. The system generates real-time alerts and helps quickly identify misleading claims and potentially harmful advertising practices affecting consumers.

In addition, the competition body has developed an automated merger detection framework that monitors stock exchange announcements, media reports and company disclosures to identify transactions that may require regulatory approval under Pakistan's merger control regime.

Another innovation is the Price Monitoring Dashboard, which analyses commodity price data across multiple regions to detect unusual or parallel price movements that may signal anti-competitive behaviour. By integrating artificial intelligence, data analytics and automated monitoring tools, the commission has significantly enhanced its ability to detect competition violations early, generate actionable intelligence and strengthen enforcement.