ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has passed an order imposing a fine of Rs60 million on Unilever Pakistan for airing deceptive claims through television commercials for its hygiene and cleansing products, ‘Lifebuoy Soap’ and ‘Lifebuoy Hand Wash’.

The commission’s bench has disposed of proceedings pertaining to a show-cause notice issued to Unilever Pakistan for prima facie violations of Section 10 of the Competition Act of 2010 that prevents businesses from engaging in deceptive marketing tactics based on misleading information or false claims.

Enforcing prohibition against deceptive marketing is one of the core mandates of CCP. It protects consumers from misleading information and safeguards competitors from anti-competitive behaviour that could harm the business interests of undertakings.

Based on a complaint submitted by Reckitt Benckiser about products, namely Lifebuoy soap and hand wash, the CCP conducted an inquiry into Unilever Pakistan’s absolute claims regarding its products, such as “100pc guaranteed protection from germs”, “World’s No. 1 germ protection soap”, and “99.9pc germ protection in 10 seconds”.

The disclaimers about these claims were printed in tiny fonts and were hardly noticeable. The CCP additionally directed Unilever to submit a compliance report within 30 days.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024