ISLAMABAD:

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has recovered Rs495 million from Long Distance International (LDI) operators in the International Clearing House (ICH) case. The amount includes Rs458 million from Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Rs37 million from Link Dot Net. The recovery follows the Competition Appellate Tribunal’s decision upholding CCP’s order that declared the ICH arrangement illegal and anti-competitive.

Introduced in 2012, the ICH agreement routed all international calls through a PTCL-controlled gateway. Termination rates were fixed at $8.8 cents per minute, more than four times the earlier rate. This eliminated competition, raised costs for overseas callers, and generated revenue windfalls exceeding 300% for operators.