The Competition Appellate Tribunal has upheld the decision of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), ruling that Al Tahur Private Limited, the producer of Prema Milk, violated competition laws through a misleading advertising campaign. However, the Tribunal reduced the penalty significantly from the original PKR 35 million to PKR 5 million, citing insufficient evidence regarding financial gains accrued from the misleading advertisements.
Earlier, the CCP had determined that Prema Milk’s promotional campaign wrongly implied that competing milk products available on the market were unsafe for human consumption. By presenting itself as the sole safe milk option, Prema Milk sparked confusion and concern within the dairy industry, prompting the Pakistan Dairy Association to file a formal complaint.
According to the Association’s complaint, Prema’s advertisements, especially those circulated widely on social media platforms, conveyed misleading messages that competing milk products potentially posed health risks. After conducting a detailed investigation into these claims, the CCP concluded that such implications were baseless, and the advertisements intended to unfairly disadvantage competing businesses within the dairy sector.
Consequently, the CCP initially imposed a fine of PKR 35 million on Al Tahur Private Limited, holding that the promotional activity infringed upon Section 10(1) of Pakistan’s Competition Act, a legal provision specifically targeting deceptive marketing practices.
However, following the company’s appeal, the Competition Appellate Tribunal upheld the CCP’s findings on the violation itself but chose to substantially reduce the fine. The Tribunal noted that although Al Tahur was responsible for misleading consumers, there was insufficient concrete evidence indicating how significantly the company had benefited financially from these misleading advertisements. As a result, the penalty was lowered to PKR 5 million.
