RB Fined for Misleading Dettol Ads
“Reckitt Benckiser Fined for Misleading Dettol Ads”
“Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Fined Rs15 Million for Misleading Dettol Soap Ads”
Reckitt Benckiser (RB) Pakistan has paid a Rs15 million fine for misleading advertisements about Dettol Soap, following a ruling by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP).
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has fined Reckitt Benckiser (RB) Pakistan a fine of Rs.15 million for a violation of Section 10 of the Law Act.
Competition Appellate Tribunal has upheld the Competition Commission of Pakistan’s (CCP) findings in an appeal filed by RB on the false marketing practices for Acute From Dettol:Flagship product ‘Dettol’ was under receiving end, as the Competition Commission was formally complained to Unilever Pakistan that another FMCG giant recklessly ran a misleading, deceitful, unsubstantiated and unethical advertising campaign through print and electronic media.
After hearing the complaint, CCC found that RB could not provide enough evidence specifically to support two claims made in an ad for Dettol Soap (that it kills up to 99.9% of germs and gives 24-hour protection from germs, colds and flu). RB held a guilty for misleading marketing practices under the Competition Act, 2010.
The CCP through its order dated 26.12.2019 was in agreement with the findings of the Enquiry Committee and foundMaryam liable for disseminating false and misleading information about its business interests to other undertakings as well as disseminating information which was not based on reasonable data with respect to characters, properties, or quality of their products [47]. The CCP fined RB Rs. 30 million for the violations.
RB challenged the CCP’s order by filing an appeal before the Competition Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal affirmed the CCP findings against RB in contravention of Section 10 of the Act. But this will penalise only Rs. 15 million.