The Competition Commission of Pakistan has demonstrated its capacity to take cases involving some of the more complex competition prohibitions, such as abuse of dominance matters. In November, the Commission found that Indus Motors, a manufacturer and marketer of Toyota vehicles in Pakistan, imposed conditions that amounted to unfair trading conditions on its customers.
The Commission further found that Indus Motors held a dominant position in the market for 1300cc passenger cars and that the attempt to impose unfair trading conditions thus constituted an abuse of its dominant position. The Commission resolved the matter through issuing orders requiring Indus Motors to amend the terms on which they supplied their vehicles.
Updated leniency program
The Commission also published new leniency regulations in September 2013, updating its 2007 leniency regulations. One of the most important changes is the improved confidentiality regime, which provides greater assurances to immunity applicants that their identity and information will not be made public until the grant of leniency.
Interestingly, on the face of the regulations, they also appear to make full immunity available for successful applicants who are party to both horizontal and vertical anticompetitive agreements.
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