The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to Master Paints Industries (Private) Limited for alleged deceptive marketing practices and asked the company to respond in writing within 14 days.
A statement issued by the CCP said the company was issued show-cause in violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010, which prohibits business undertakings from engaging in deceptive marketing practices.
The show-cause notice follows an enquiry by the CCP after receiving complaints from Nippon Paints and Buxly Paints regarding print and television advertisements by Master Paints. The complainants alleged that in the advertisements, Master Paints misleadingly compares the quality of paints made by different manufacturers on the basis of tokens, and implies that paint which contains tokens is harmful to buildings. The enquiry report found that Master Paints, prima facie, could not substantiate these claims and as such the advertisements constitute dissemination of false and misleading information as well as false and misleading comparison of goods, which amounts to deceptive marketing practices. The CCP is mandated by the Competition Act to protect consumers from anti-competitive activities including deceptive marketing practices.