ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) imposed an order against Proctor and Gamble Pakistan (P&G) for using misleading marketing techniques, and the Competition Appellate Tribunal has affirmed this decision.
The tribunal rejected P&G’s appeal and held that the CCP has the right to assess a complaint’s validity and make an informed decision on whether to accept, reject, or not.
P&G was fined Rs. 10 million by the CCP for deceitfully marketing Safeguard as the best antibacterial soap in Pakistan.
Nevertheless, the tribunal lowered the fine to Rs5 million in light of P&G’s compliance-focused strategy and the fact that the company had abandoned the primary claim soon after the CCP began its investigation in 2014.
The investigation was started in response to a complaint made by Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Ltd., which claimed that P&G had used deceptive advertising in their Safeguard campaign.
The CCP came to the conclusion that P&G’s advertising effort, which gave the general impression that Safeguard was Pakistan’s best antibacterial soap, breached Section 10 of the Competition Act. There was no plausible foundation to support the assertion.
