Islamabad, 15 May, 2025: The Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) has upheld the Competition Commission of Pakistan’s (CCP) decision to penalize Diamond Paints for deceptive marketing campaign which is a violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010.
However, the original penalty of PKR 5 million is halved to PKR 2.5 million, in light of the company’s compliance-oriented approach.
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The court’s decision follows Diamond Paints’ acknowledged its wrongdoing and appealed to court for leniency. Thus, considering the company’s willingness to meet the legal obligations, the CAT reduced the fine and dismissed of the appeal.
The CCP’s original order was issued by a bench comprising Chairman Dr. Kabir Ahmed Sidhu and Member Mr. Salman Amin.
The court took the matter into consideration after Nippon Paint Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd, filed a complaint alleging that Diamond Paints did not disclose key details in its television commercials (TVCs), specifically the presence and value of redeemable tokens in its paint buckets.
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CCP’s investigation found that though the company had included the disclaimers on packaging and shade cards, its TVCs omitted this material information.
The Commission then concluded that such selective disclosure misleads consumers and violates their right to make informed choices.
The CCP stressed that transparency in advertising is essential, particularly when promotional schemes like coupons or tokens can significantly influence purchasing decisions.
