The Competition Appellate Tribunal will begin today (Tuesday) the hearing on an appeal filed by 29 banks against the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) order for imposition of a Rs 770 million penalty on 1-Link Company case, it was learnt. Sources said that a Rs 770 million penalty was imposed on 29 banks by the CCP on 1-Link for charging the account holders for using ATM cards at cash withdrawal machines other than their own bank's.

The CCP has imposed a Rs 50 million fine on 1-Link (Guarantee) Limited and a Rs 50 million each on 11 founding member banks and a Rs 10 million on each of 17 non-founding member banks for imposing uniform customer fee for using ATMs of other banks in violation of Competition Act, 2010.

The banks have challenged the CCP decision regarding the service and the matter was referred to the CCP tribunal. The tribunal headed by Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, former judge of the Supreme Court, would hold the first hearing of the tribunal ever since its establishment. The members of the tribunal include former Chairman of the CCP Khalid Mirza and Raja Inam Aziz. The banks have also obtained stay order from Sindh, Lahore and Islamabad High Courts against the CCP decision.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2012