PPRA, CCP to Use AI to Curb Collusion in Public Procurement

ISLAMABAD ( WNAM REPORT ): Farid Ahmad Tarar, Chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), visited the Headquarters of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and held a meeting with Managing Director PPRA, Mr. Hasnat Ahmed Qureshi, along with senior PPRA officials. He was accompanied by the Director General CCP, Dr. Ikram ul Haq.
During the meeting, the MD PPRA briefed him on reforms undertaken by PPRA in line with the Prime Minister’s Vision of Digital Pakistan, including institutional restructuring, capacity building initiatives, revision of the regulatory framework, and the implementation of the E Pak Acquisition and Disposal System (EPADS). EPADS is fully operational across the Federal Government and the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he informed.
Mr. Qureshi highlighted that digitization of procurement has promoted efficiency, transparency, and accountability, while also enabling the detection and curbing of collusive practices. He emphasized the importance of structured data sharing to support CCP’s analytical work, particularly in relation to its newly developed AI based bid rigging detection system, which identifies suspicious bidding patterns.
Chairman CCP, Mr. Tarar, hailed the implementation of EPADS, highlighting that CCP’s AI system is designed for the identification of collusive bidding patterns in public procurement. This initiative represents a strategic shift from the Commission’s earlier reactive approach to a proactive, data-driven enforcement framework. He informed that the AI model utilizes structured historical procurement records and validates analytical samples to generate predictive risk indicators, detect suspicious bidding behaviour, and support centralized monitoring. With integration through procurement data streams, the system aims to identify potential anti-competitive practices, thereby improving procurement outcomes.
PPRA and CCP reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening institutional coordination under the existing MoU, with a focus on data integration, joint analysis, and AI based monitoring tools to safeguard public resources.