Consumer protection regulator CCPA has passed an order against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare Ltd directing it to discontinue advertisements of Sensodyne products in India for flouting norms.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has also passed an order against Naaptol Online Shopping Ltd for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practice, and asked it pay a penalty of Rs 10 lakh.
CCPA took suo moto cognisance of the matter and passed an order against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare on January 27, and against Naaptol on February 2 this year, the consumer affairs ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
As per the order, the CCPA has directed GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare to discontinue all advertisements for Sensodyne in the country within seven days of the issuance of the order as the ads showed dentists practicing outside India endorsing the products.
Given that the regulations governing dentists in India clearly bar endorsement of any product or drug publicly, the CCPA said GSK Consumer Healthcare “cannot be allowed to circumvent the law in force in India and show foreign dentists to exploit consumer apprehension towards tooth sensitivity.”
“Therefore, advertisement of Sensodyne products in India which show endorsements by dentists practising outside India qualify as ‘misleading advertisement’ in terms of Section 2 (28) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019,” the order said.