KUALA LUMPUR, 30 SEPTEMBER - The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC), an agency under the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) has issued a Proposed Decision against 81 enterprises for their involvement in a price-fixing agreement for the provision of Umrah travel services in Malaysia from 2023. Their cartel behaviours can be deemed as an infringement under section 4 of the Competition Act 2010 (Act 712).
Through MyCC investigation, it provisionally finds that these enterprises which are also the members of an association registered in Malaysia have agreed to fix the floor prices for both economy and premium Umrah package services during their meetings in early 2023. MyCC also discovered that the association in question later made announcements to the media in order to inform the public of their agreed floor prices. All of these enterprises except for 10 are licensed to carry out umrah travel services. The list of the 81 enterprises involved is provided in Appendix I.
It is important to highlight that at this stage, the Proposed Decision is a provisional finding and it should not be assumed that these enterprises have infringed the Act.
As required by the Act, the enterprises named in the Proposed Decision have been notified of the proposed penalties. These enterprises are given the opportunity to submit their written representations to MyCC within 30 days of receiving the Proposed Decision. The enterprises will also have an opportunity to present their oral representations before the Commission on a date to be determined later. MyCC, as a quasi-judicial body, will issue its Final Decision only after taking into account the representations made by these enterprises together with the evidence obtained during the investigation.
Dato’ Seri Mohd Hishamudin Yunus,
Chairman
Malaysia Competition Commission