The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has recovered Rs495 million in penalties from Long Distance International (LDI) operators in the International Clearing House (ICH) case, following the decision of the Competition Appellate Tribunal.
According to a CCP statement, the amount includes Rs458 million from Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Rs37 million from M/s Link Dot Net.
The recovery stems from CCP’s 2012 order, later upheld by the Tribunal, which declared the ICH arrangement illegal and anti-competitive. Under the ICH agreement, all incoming international calls were routed through a single PTCL-controlled gateway, with termination rates fixed at 8.8 US cents per minute, over four times the previous rate.
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The move eliminated competition, inflated costs for overseas callers, and generated windfall revenues exceeding 300 percent for operators.
Initially, CCP had imposed penalties equivalent to 7.5 percent of each operator’s annual turnover. The Tribunal later reduced the fines to 2 percent of ICH-related revenues but directed operators to deposit the penalties within 30 days.
CCP Chairman Dr. Kabir Sidhu said the Commission remained committed to ensuring strict enforcement of competition law. He stressed that while business forums can play a positive role in information sharing, they must not be misused for price coordination or collusion. He also warned against market abuse, manipulation, consumer exploitation, and other anti-competitive practices.
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