CAT Upholds CCP’s Deceptive Marketing Findings on Strepsils

The Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) upheld an appeal filed by Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Limited against the (CCP). The CCP had ordered the company to pay a penalty of Rs. 30 million for disseminating misleading information about its product, Strepsils.

The case was initiated after complaints from Square Distribution & Marketing System (Pvt.) Ltd, alleging that Reckitt Benckiser had falsely claimed that Strepsils provided sore throat relief, despite it being deregistered as a drug and marketed as non-medicated. The product is now registered as food.

In its judgment, the CAT noted that the company had made significant changes to its packaging and marketing practices following the CCP’s proceedings. Reckitt Benckiser was required to prominently display “Non-Medicated” on its packaging and advertise the change in status from medicated/drug category to food category through widely circulated newspapers.

The CCP remains committed to protecting consumers from deceptive marketing practices, emphasizing the importance of transparency in advertising and affirming consumers’ right to make informed purchasing decisions.