ISLAMABAD: Following an inquiry into deceptive marketing practices by certain dairy companies, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has imposed fines amounting to Rs64.80 million on three companies.

The CCP’s inquiry found that these companies were marketing dairy-based liquids, including tea-whiteners, as milk, in violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010, which relates to deceptive marketing.

The heaviest fine — Rs62.29 million — has been imposed on Engro Foods Limited (EFL). Noon Pakistan Limited (NPL) has been fined Rs2 million and Shakarganj Foods Products Limited (SFP) Rs500,000.

A CCP spokesperson said the penalties were imposed based on the severity of violations and their likely impact on competition in the market.

The order was issued by a CCP bench comprising Chairperson Vadiyya Khalil and members Dr Shahzad Ansar and Ikramul Haq Qureshi.

The order said that SFP’s product ‘Qudrat’ (liquid tea whitener), NPL’s product ‘Dairy Rozana’ (dairy drink) and EFL’s product ‘Dairy Omung’ (dairy drink) were being marketed as milk.

The inquiry found that the marketing campaign for ‘Dairy Omung’, particularly a television commercial, gave an impression that it was milk and not a dairy drink. The company’s website termed the product an alternative to loose milk, “thereby deceiving the unsuspecting consumer”, the CCP order said.

The order further noted that the packaging and labelling on NPL’s product ‘Dairy Rozana’ gave a general impression that the product was milk and not a dairy drink, thus deceiving the consumers about the product.

Regarding SFPL’s product ‘Qudrat’, the CCP inquiry found that the labelling on the packaging was deceptive in the absence of a proper and sufficient disclosure about the product.

The CCP’s order said that when information pertaining to products or services was inaccurate or incomplete, it was likely to mislead consumers and affect competitors, in violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act.

The CCP said that these companies had been warned not to violate the provisions of the competition law in future.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2017