The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission – CCPC is as of 1 st September 2019, running a six-month Amnesty Programme up to the 28th of February, 2020 aimed at raising awareness and compliance with CCPC Act No 24 of 2010.
The Act avails persons or enterprises engaged in cartel conduct and restrictive business practices (RBPs) an opportunity to desist from further abrogating the Act in exchange for a waiver of fines as well as immunity from possible prosecution.
CCPC Director Legal and Corporate Affairs Maureen Mwanza has told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in a statement that the programme focuses on all subsectors of the economy and covers agreements deemed as anti-competitive or restrictive of competition under the Act.
“The Commission through this programme and in line with Section 79 of the Act encourages persons and enterprises to come forward to the Commission with information that helps to demonstrate the existence of a prohibited agreement. The said information should be of such quality and degree of detail that it increases the chances of proving the existence of the prohibited agreement which the Commission would ideally have not been privy or have access to at all without investigation,” She said.
The Commission has further offered an opportunity to persons or enterprises to apply for amnesty and subsequently become good corporate citizens by complying with the Act. Mwanza added that persons or enterprises who may not be sure whether their conduct or agreement is in breach of the Act are free to engage the Commission in person or through their legal representatives anonymously or otherwise.
She further explained that the Amnesty Programme is restricted to Part Ill of the Act, and will therefore not extend to Mergers or Unfair Trading covered under Parts IV and VII of the Act respectively.
There are sectors in the economy that are dominated by a few related firms or firms acting in cohort which prevent competition and entry of new players, thereby sustaining higher prices at the expense of local consumers. The Zambian Business community and persons are now free to report all suspected anti-competitive business practices to the CCPC.
