SC Upholds Rs30m Penalty on PVMA for Price-Fixing
Published On 27 Aug, 2026
A two-member bench comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Salahuddin Panhwar upheld the findings of the CCP and the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT), ruling that PVMA’s conduct amounted to prohibited price-fixing under Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010.
The court, however, reduced the penalty imposed on the association from Rs50 million to Rs30 million and directed PVMA to deposit the revised amount.
The case arose from consultations between the federal government and PVMA during 2007-09, when the government was seeking a reduction in the prices of ghee and cooking oil. PVMA participated in the discussions and subsequently communicated the agreed prices to its member companies.
The CCP had found that PVMA negotiated and fixed prices on behalf of its members with the government, constituting a violation of Section 4(1), read with Section 4(2)(a), of the Competition Act. It imposed a Rs50 million penalty on the association, which was later upheld by the CAT.
In its judgment, authored by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, the Supreme Court held that the government’s consultations with PVMA on price reductions, conducted without involving the CCP, followed by the association’s collective determination of prices, amounted to a violation of competition law.
The court observed that competing businesses must determine their prices independently based on their own commercial considerations. Collective price determination, whether carried out directly by competitors or through a trade association, undermines competition by replacing independent pricing decisions with a common price.
