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Bill on course to bust market syndicates

GM Quader proposes law in parliament to set up Competition Commission

Star Business Report
Commerce Minister GM Quader yesterday placed a bill in parliament seeking to enact a provision to ensure and encourage healthy competition in business by busting syndicates that manipulate and control markets.
Quader proposed to set up a body — Bangladesh Competition Commission — that will oversee the market situation and take necessary measures against unscrupulous businesses and organisations.
The commission consisting of a chairman and a maximum of four members may investigate any allegation on its own or on receiving complaints.
It will have its own secretariat with necessary manpower. The commission will be headquartered in Dhaka, but can set up branch offices outside the capital if needed.
An individual may be punished with a jail term of a maximum of one year for violation of any order of the commission or a fine ofTk 1 lakh per day for the number of days it fails to comply with the order, according to the details of the bill.
The proposed legislation also imposed a bar on any individual from signing any agreement with a producer of any commodity or
service that may have a negative impact on completion or create a monopoly or oligopoly.
If the commission is satisfied upon investigation, it can order the individual to refrain from signing such an agreement or misusing any power. It may also impose a fine on individuals if found guilty.
In defence of the proposed legislation, the minister said some unscrupulous trading organisations through written or unwritten agreements may manipulate the supply of a commodity to the market by price fixing in absence of a law on competition.
"Many believe such unscrupulous trading activities were responsible for the unjustified price hike in the last few years,” Quader said in a written statement tagged with copies of the bill.
The minister said big companies may also abuse their dominating position to control the market and create obstacles to the entry of new entities. “But it is very difficult to prove this.”
The minister said the proposed legislation will contribute to ensure a healthy atmosphere in the market.
The bill was sent to the parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny and will place the report in parliament in a month.