The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) took strong enforcement action in 2025 against cartelization, price fixing, and other anti-competitive practices across key sectors, including sugar, steel, poultry, fertiliser, education, transport, advertising, power supply, and manufacturing, to protect consumers and ensure fair markets.
In the sugar sector, the CCP issued show cause notices to 10 sugar mills in Punjab for colluding on the start of the crushing season and fixing the sugarcane procurement price at Rs400 per maund. The Commission found that the mills jointly decided to delay crushing during a meeting held on November 10, 2025, in violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010.
In a major enforcement action, the CCP imposed heavy penalties on Aisha Steel Mills Limited and International Steels Limited for cartelization and price fixing. Aisha Steel Mills was fined Rs. 648 million, while International Steels was penalized Rs914 million. The inquiry found coordinated pricing, exchange of sensitive information, and an average steel price increase of 111 per cent over three years.
To protect parents and students, the CCP issued show cause notices to 17 major private school systems for abusing dominance by forcing parents to purchase expensive, logo-branded notebooks, workbooks, and uniforms from selected vendors.
In the poultry sector, CCP imposed a collective fine of Rs155 million on eight major poultry hatcheries for cartelization and price fixing of day-old broiler chicks, which contributed to higher poultry prices.
