The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued show cause notices to the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) and Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) for, prima facie, abuse of dominance and collusion in the procurement of various categories of auto/power transformers in violation of Section 3 and Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010. According to a press release issued here on Monday, the CCP received a complaint from “7Aays Corporation” wherein it was alleged that the NTDC, LESCO, FESCO, and MEPCO are abusing their dominance in the market of power/auto transformers by allowing monopoly to MR-Germany made on-load tap-changers (OLTCs) although there are other manufacturers as well. CCP conducted an enquiry in the matter. In terms of the Enquiry Report, it appears that the NTDC, LESCO, FESCO, and MEPCO are imposing an unfair trading condition on the suppliers of transformers by unnecessarily referring to a particular brand i.e. MR Germany in the bidding documents (despite the fact that a complete International Electro technical Commission (IEC) specification exist for the same), by insisting that the bidders supply transformers equipped with MR Germany’s OLTC, and by rejecting the bids of the suppliers of transformers equipped with any other brand of OLTC. Due to this unfair trading condition the suppliers of transformers equipped with OLTC of any brand other than MR Germany are unable to compete in the market. Hence it appears that NTDC, LESCO, FESCO, and MEPCO are abusing their dominant position in the relevant market for procurement of various categories of transformers in violation of Section 3(1) read with Section 3(2) and Section 3(3) (a) & (g) of the Act.
