ISLAMABAD: The sugar industry is already under the inquiry of Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) as its Cartels and Trade Abuse Department has been observing possibility of any collusive activities.
The commission in the past had unearthed a cartel in the sugar industry in which the consumers were being fleeced by making cartels at three different tiers and making them liable for the maximum penalty, a senior official of CCP told APP here on Friday.
He said the CCP had framed a case against the sugar industry a few years back.
Replying to question regarding a housing scheme he said, the CCP has passed three orders imposing penalties of Rs 2.5 million each on Eden Builders (Pvt) Limited and Green Field Developers (Pvt) Limited and Rs 10 million on Vision Developers (Pvt) Limited for deceptive marketing campaigns for their respective housing schemes that were in violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010.
He said that Green Field Developers marketing campaign for its housing scheme, ‘Green City,’ made the false claim that it was located in Islamabad whereas it was in Fateh Jang.
The official said that Eden Builders had made false claims about the location of its housing Scheme “Eden Life Islamabad,” stating that it was situated at a 12-minute drive from the Serena Hotel Islamabad and five minutes from the CDA Enclave and Chak Shahzad.
Moreover, while the advertisements also indicated the price of the various sized plots, there was no clear mention of the development charges to be recovered later, he added.
Eden Builders also failed to show that it had the approval of the Capital Development Authority for this housing scheme in its name.
He further said that a Lahore-based real estate company, Vision Developers, had obtained the approval of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) for a housing society, “River Edge Housing Scheme.”
The company subsequently applied for NOC from the LDA for a new housing scheme, “Park View Villas”, which was denied by LDA for being located close to a riverbank, which could be prone to flooding.
Despite this, Vision Developers advertised the new unapproved scheme under the deceptive name of “Park View Villas at River Edge Housing Society,” giving the impression that the new scheme was an extension of the earlier-approved “River Edge Housing Scheme”, he added.
Eden Life and Green Field gave commitments to the commission not to engage in deceptive marketing practices again.
He said that Vision Developers, however, never appeared before the CCP despite repeated notices being served to them.
The CCP has stressed upon the importance of enhanced regulation of the real estate sector and responsible and accurate advertising by the developers to protect consumers from financial and material losses, the official said.
