Bashundhara, Square, Pran among 36 sued

The Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC) filed 44 cases against 36 businessmen and companies including Pran, Square, ACI, Akij, City Group, Meghna, Bashundhara, and S Alam Group on allegations of creating volatility in commodity markets.

Although these cases were filed last Thursday, the commission released the full list of the accused businessmen and companies on Monday.

The accused destabilised the markets of rice, flour, eggs, broiler chickens and cosmetics by creating artificial shortages which led to abnormal price hikes, according to the commission.

The hearings of these cases have started from Monday, according to sources at the commission.

On the first day, the director of Kazi Firm, among the accused, and two lawyers were present during the hearing.

The commission asked the company to present data regarding the period of their business operations, the quantity of chicken produced and supplied to the market from 22 July to 22 September, production cost and selling price, the company’s market share, and the rationale for the unusual price increase in the chicken market.

When asked, Biswajit Saha, director of City Group, said, “The Competition Commission is issuing this notice against many companies. We are running our business abiding by the law.”