ISLAMABAD – The Competition Appellate Tribunal has upheld the Competition Commission of Pakistan’s ruling against PTCL and other Long Distance International (LDI) operators for a decade-old anti-competitive agreement, but has reduced the penalty. Operators must now pay 2 percent of their turnover linked to International Clearing House (ICH) activities within 30 days—or face reinstatement of the original 7.5 percent fine.
The ICH pact, signed in 2012, mandated that all international incoming calls be routed through a single gateway managed by PTCL, undermining market competition. Other LDI providers were required to divert their traffic through this consortium arrangement and share revenues according to quota allocations, rather than competing freely. This led to a six-fold increase in termination rates—from roughly 2 cents to 8.8 cents per minute—dramatically reducing consumer choice.
Following the agreement’s implementation, incoming call volumes plunged by nearly 70 percent, from 1.9 billion minutes to just 579 million, while industry revenues soared by approximately 308 percent. In response, the Competition Commission deemed the pact collusive and in breach of competition law, annulling the policy and imposing the original penalty.
During appeals, operators argued that the agreement resulted from government directives, but the tribunal rejected claims of state compulsion. Evidence indicated that operators themselves had lobbied in favour of the ICH arrangement. The tribunal also clarified that the Competition Act applies universally—including to regulatory authorities—underscoring that even the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority could face liability if found complicit in restricting competition.
This ruling reinforces Pakistan’s commitment to fair market practices in telecom and demonstrates that no entity, public or private, is above the law.
This story has been reported by PakTribune. All rights reserved.