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Bangladesh Competition Commission

regulatory · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
A. H. M. Ahsan
Role
Chairperson
Annual budget
—
Staff
—
Established
2012
Legal basis
Competition Act, 2012 (Act No. XVIII of 2012), passed by the National Parliament of Bangladesh in June 2012, repealing the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Ordinance, 1970; the Commission was constituted on 17 December 2012 under Section 6 of the Act

BCC is in the middle of its most significant telecom enforcement action to date: a formal investigation into Grameenphone's alleged predatory SIM-card pricing (Robi and Banglalink complainants, jurisdiction challenge dismissed September 2025, case active Q1 2026). The commission is simultaneously a new member of the Stanford Computational Antitrust Project (May 2026), signalling a modernisation push under Chairperson AHM Ahsan. Institutional credibility remains constrained by a composition that is exclusively administrative-cadre in violation of the Competition Act's own requirements, and by the absence of a leniency mechanism. The commission's most completed enforcement track remains the poultry sector (Kazi Farms, Suguna Food, Diamond Egg, CP Bangladesh fined), while the 2022 cartel and abuse proceedings against Unilever, Pran, Square, ACI, Akij, Bashundhara and S Alam Group (44 cases, 36 firms) remain at various hearing and investigation stages.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

CCB was established 17 December 2012 under Competition Act 2012 (Act XVIII), repealing the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Ordinance 1970. The Act structures BCC as a quasi-judicial body with a chairperson and up to 4 members; appeals from BCC decisions go to the Ministry of Commerce. Chairperson AHM Ahsan (January 7, 2025) brings Ministry of Commerce and Export Promotion Bureau background but no economics or law specialisation, consistent with a known structural problem: the current commission is entirely administrative-cadre contrary to Section 7(3) of the Act. The BCC does not yet have a leniency mechanism, a gap cited repeatedly in scholarly and policy literature. The telecom enforcement track (Robi/Banglalink vs Grameenphone) is verified across The Daily Star, Jagonews24, and MEATechWatch as an active investigation with jurisdiction challenge dismissed September 22, 2025. Grameenphone's 45% subscriber share and ~Tk 32,000 crore revenue dominance are from Robi's complaint as cited by The Daily Star. Poultry enforcement fines (Kazi Farms Tk 5cr, Suguna Tk 3.44cr, Diamond Egg + CP Bangladesh Tk 3.5cr) are verified from TBS and bdnews24. The 44 cases against 36 firms (Unilever, Pran, Square, ACI, Akij, Bashundhara, S Alam Group) are verified from TBS and Global Competition Review. Stanford Computational Antitrust membership verified from Stanford Law School CodeX blog (May 11, 2026). No verified RMG-specific BCC case found in available sources; RMG sector not in BCC's active enforcement record within the 90-day window.

Sources