The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has passed an order imposing a penalty of Rs 1.0 million each on 5 Battery Manufacturers for violating Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010 by hiding important information about their products from consumers.
CCP received a formal complaint that various battery manufacturers were misleading consumers about their dry and acid-lead batteries by not disclosing material information such as, product capacity on the products' body, packaging and warranty cards. The CCP's enquiry found that five battery manufacturers including Atlas Battery Limited, Excide Pakistan Limited, Pakistan Accumulators (Private) Limited, Millat Industrial Products Limited and Century Engineering Industries (Private) Limited, were not printing product capacity of their batteries on the products' body, packaging and warranty cards. Without such vital information, the consumers would be unable to compare and differentiate the quality, suitability for use and price of the products.
The order stated that by omitting important information from their products and the marketing material, these companies not only deceived consumers but also harmed competition in the market. The companies admitted before the Commission that they concealed important information about their products from consumers and assured the Commission to print the battery capacity on the packaging, body, and warranty cards of batteries. Similarly, they will also amend their advertisements and all marketing material to mention the product capacity and other characteristics of their products.
Accepting their commitments to comply with Section 10 of the Competition Act, the Commission took a lenient view and imposed a minimum penalty of Rs 1.0 million each on these five Battery Manufacturers. CCP is mandated under the Competition Act to ensure free competition in all spheres of commercial and economic activity, to enhance economic efficiency and to protect consumers from anti-competitive practices including deceptive marketing practices.-PR
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