MDPPACPB Regulations

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(c) Bid-Rigging and Collusive Tendering – including cover bidding, bid 
suppression, bid rotation, or allocation of tenders or customers in procurement 
processes. 
(d) Collective Output or Supply Restriction – jointly deciding to reduce 
production, imports, throughput, or supply to manipulate prices, create 
scarcity, or alter market conditions. 
(e) Tacit Collusion, Price Signalling, and Anticompetitive Information Exchange 
– using public statements, trade association platforms, or other indirect 
communications to influence competitors’ pricing or output decisions, or to 
exchange competitively sensitive information (e.g., current/future prices, 
production plans, customer lists, bidding strategies). 
    3.    No Defence of Custom, Stability, or Tradition 
The fact that conduct is customary, intended to stabilize the market, prevent 
price wars, preserve margins, or is carried out via trade associations or informal 
channels shall not exempt it from liability. 
    4.    Permitted Collaboration and Exceptions 
This Regulation does not prohibit: 
(a) Legitimate joint ventures, consortium bids, or collaborative projects that are 
necessary, genuinely pro-competitive, and approved by the Authority or 
FCCPC where required; 
(b) Information exchange that is aggregated, anonymized, and historical, and 
cannot reasonably reduce market uncertainty among competitors; 
(c) Intra-firm arrangements or lawful franchise management that do not 
involve coordination with external competitors. 
    5.    Public Interest and Government Mandate Exception 
Supply coordination or output reductions are permitted only when expressly 
authorized by law, Presidential Order, or Government directive under national 
interest provisions, and subject to independent oversight by the Authority. 
    6.    Regulatory Oversight 
The Authority shall monitor press releases, investor calls, trade association 
meetings, and public statements by dominant or major market actors for 
conduct facilitating prohibited coordination. 
    7.    Enforcement and Sanctions 
Any breach of this Regulation is a per se violation and may result in: 
(a) Administrative fines, corrective orders, and cease-and-desist directives; 
(b) Nullification of affected agreements, contracts, or bid awards; 
(c) Public naming of violators; 
(d) Disqualification from procurement processes; and 
(e) Referral for civil or criminal enforcement under the Act and the FCCPA. 
 
 
PART V – ANTI-COMPETITIVE SUPPLY AND TRADING PRACTICES 
 
14. General Prohibition and Common Principles 
    1.    General Prohibition 
(1) No licensee, market participant, or group of undertakings in the midstream 
or downstream petroleum sector shall engage in any contractual