Bangladesh's competition authority has fined two leading poultry farms — Diamond Egg Ltd and CP Bangladesh — a total of Tk 3.5 crore for their alleged collusive practices in artificially increasing the prices of eggs in August of 2022.

Diamond Egg will have to pay Tk 2.5 crore and CP Bangladesh Tk 1 crore in 30 days from the day the order was issued, the Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC) said in separate notices. 

Hafizur Rahman, a member of the BCC, told the Daily Star that they were fined because the charges against them were proven.

The directive comes more than three months after the competition watchdog slapped fine on Kazi Farms Ltd Tk 5 crore and Suguna Food and Feeds Bangladesh Pvt Ltd Tk 3.44 crore in the second week of October 2023.

Both firms went to the higher court later challenging the orders.

In its latest orders, the BCC said Diamond Egg in collusion with similar other firms hiked sales prices of eggs unusually in August 2022. 

At the same time, the company controlled the supply of its produced egged and the market, according to the order posted on the BCC website.

The competition authority found proof of collusive practice in case of CP Bangladesh too, and it said the poultry producer hiked prices of egg artificially between August 5, 2022 and August 20, the same year.

To cool down the price of eggs in the local market, the government later allowed import of the protein item.

In Bangladesh, prices of egg, one of the lowest cost protein sources, surged as much as by Tk 30-40 per dozen to Tk 160 in August 2022 as major producers colluded with each other to artificially hike prices of eggs, according to a report of the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection at the end of the same month.

Today, retail price of a dozen of egg was Tk 135 in Dhaka, according to market prices data compiled by Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

The commission operates under the commerce ministry and is empowered to probe, try, and punish errant companies for breaching competition laws. The commission operates under Competition Act, 2012, which allows to dispose of cases without going to a court.