THE Department of Economic Development is considering further measures to address abuse of market dominance and excessive pricing, as well as providing guidelines for competition leniency applications.This is what Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said in his foreword to the Competition Commission’s annual report for 2015-16, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.The aim, he said was to empower the competition authorities to address anticompetitive practices that imposed unnecessary costs on consumers, undermined industrial policy objectives and reduced the competitiveness of the economy.Leniency applications are those made by participants in collusive behaviour who come clean with the commission in return for leniency in the imposition of penalties."Firm steps must be taken to end cartels. Businesses continue to conspire to raise prices and keep new entrants out of their markets," Patel said."The competition authorities therefore need to step up their enforcement activities aga...

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