The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has developed an artificial intelligence-based system to detect bid rigging and collusion in government procurement, a sector the commission says accounts for about $60 billion in annual spending.
The Bid Rigging Detection System is designed to identify suspicious bids and patterns that point to possible collusion among bidders. Public procurement in Pakistan equals 15 to 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the CCP.
CCP Chairman Fareed Ahmad Tarar said procurement worth trillions of rupees cannot be monitored or checked manually. The system will allow the commission to direct its investigative resources toward the highest-risk cases.
The commission stated that the system’s alerts will not constitute final proof of a violation or the existence of a cartel. Every flagged case will require independent verification, supporting evidence and legal review before any action is taken.
The system has been featured in Stanford University’s global antitrust report, which documents the experiences of 30 competition authorities worldwide.
The commission has reached institutional understandings with federal and provincial procurement authorities and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for the implementation of the system.
The tool is currently in the advanced stages of preparation before its rollout. The CCP said the system will help ensure fair competition in public procurement and improve the use of public resources.