Competition body recovers Rs40m penalty

ISLAMABAD:

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has enforced its order by recovering a cumulative penalty of Rs40 million from United Distributors Pakistan Limited (UDPL) and International Brands (Private) Limited (IBL) for entering into an anti-competitive agreement.

The enforcement follows the upholding of CCP's decision by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT), which affirmed the findings that the agreement constituted a prohibited market-sharing arrangement that restricted competition in the relevant market. The case originated from a public disclosure made by UDPL to the Pakistan Stock Exchange that it had entered into a "non-compete" agreement with IBL. Under the agreement, UDPL agreed not to distribute human pharmaceutical products in Pakistan for a period of three years in exchange for a payment of Rs1.131 billion from IBL.