In a rare but decisive move, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has cracked down on a powerful fertiliser cartel, slapping a hefty Rs375 million penalty on six industry giants and their umbrella body, the Fertiliser Manufacturers of Pakistan Advisory Council (FMPAC), for orchestrating a nationwide price-fixing scheme that ripped billions from Pakistan’s farmers.
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Rather than expressing remorse or offering restitution, the fertiliser lobby is doubling down — announcing plans to challenge the CCP’s order in court. This is the same group that has long evaded accountability, previously refusing to pay multibillion-rupee dues under the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC), despite openly collecting those funds from farmers. Instead of remitting the funds to the national exchequer, they hid behind legal stay orders — and the money remains unaccounted for to this day.
The CCP, acting on its own motion, unearthed damning evidence that six major urea manufacturers — Fatima Fertiliser Limited, Fauji Fertiliser Company Limited, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Limited, Fatima Fertiliser Company Limited, Engro Fertiliser Company Limited, and Agritech Limited — colluded under the FMPAC banner to manipulate prices. Each of the six companies has been fined Rs50 million, while FMPAC faces a Rs75 million penalty.
The so-called “awareness campaign” they ran, as per the CCP’s detailed findings, was nothing short of a coordinated racket. Despite wildly different production costs, gas prices, and market sizes, all companies somehow landed on the exact same price: Rs1,768 per urea bag. This was not market competition — it was market rigging.
The CCP Bench, comprising Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu and Salam Amin, held that this blatant uniformity in pricing violated Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010. Attempts by the companies to cover their tracks using the “state action doctrine” were swiftly dismantled by the CCP, which found no formal directive from the government to fix prices. The Commission made it clear: dressing up price-fixing as a public service campaign doesn’t make it legal.
Even more damning, the cartel ignored repeated warnings — not once, but in 2010, 2012, and 2014 — from the CCP. They also turned a blind eye to repeated directives from the Fertiliser Review Committee (FRC) about supply imbalances. The result? A strangled market, inflated prices, and millions of farmers pushed further into financial distress during crucial Rabi and Kharif crop cycles.
Despite overwhelming evidence, FMPAC continues to deny responsibility, claiming it merely followed government directions in publishing a price list. It insists it doesn’t set prices — an assertion that rings hollow given the synchronised pricing and documented coordination. Their latest defence? That they were “just raising awareness.” But the CCP saw through the smokescreen.
In its statement, the CCP warned that trade associations must not become safe havens for price manipulation or collusive behaviour. The regulator reaffirmed its resolve to protect market competition and consumer rights — especially those of small farmers — from corporate exploitation.
FMPAC, now cornered, vows to take the fight to court. But for many observers, this looks less like a pursuit of justice and more like an attempt to escape accountability once again. With billions at stake and the livelihoods of farmers on the line, this could become a defining showdown between corporate impunity and regulatory enforcement.
