The Competitive Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued show-cause notices to 84 sugars mills across the country involved in ‘cartelisation’ of essential commodity that led to sugar price hike in the country, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.

The CCP issued the show-cause notices to 45 sugar mills of Punjab, 33 of Sindh and six sugar mills of Khyper Pakhtunkhwa, the TV channel reported.

“As per the data collected from JDW Sugar Mills and Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), the sugar mills have been involved in noncompetitive activities which were not all aligned set by the CCP,” the commission said in a press release.

The CCP said: “Top officials of PSMA were involved in exchanging sensitive information and also involved in setting sugar prices.”

The PSMA mutually increased sugar prices amid the shortage of commodities in the wake of sugar exports. While 15 sugar mills in Punjab started delayed sugarcane crushing and 45 sugar mills exchanged sensitive information using the PSMA platform, the TV channel quoting the CCP reported.

“PSMA used utility stores tenders to divide sugar while 19 sugar mills violated the CCP Act and 20 sugar mills were sent show-cause notices on opening before-time tenders,” the TV channel reported.

It is pertinent to mention that the federal government had earlier ordered relevant departments to launch formal investigations and, where necessary, take penal, corrective and mitigating measures against the ‘sugar cartel’ implicated in the commission’s report.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar had written letters to CCP, Sindh chief secretary, Punjab chief secretary, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to “undertake a comprehensive investigation” into the matter.