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The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has recovered another Rs. 19 million from Multinet (Pvt.) Limited and Rs. 1.4 million from Voice Communications in the International Clearing House (ICH) case. With these recoveries, the total collection now stands at Rs. 772 million.
The CCP remains focused on ensuring full recovery of penalties imposed on telecom firms involved in the ICH cartel. The penalties were first levied after an investigation revealed that all fourteen Long Distance International (LDI) operators had formed a cartel under the 2012 ICH arrangement.
This arrangement required all incoming international calls to pass through a single gateway managed by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). As a result, call termination rates were fixed at high levels, which reduced competition and market efficiency.
Later, the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) upheld the CCP’s findings on cartelization and abuse of dominance. However, the Tribunal adjusted the penalty to two percent of the revenues earned through the ICH setup. After the ruling, the CCP launched recovery proceedings against the operators.
Although some companies have challenged the CAT verdict before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, there is no restraining order in place. Therefore, the CCP continues its recoveries in line with the law.
