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P&G team raids Bangalore firm, destroys spurious Vicks products

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

Procter & Gamble (P&G) Hygiene and Health Care Ltd, the leading consumer product company, swung into action in Bangalore on Tuesday to destroy huge stocks of look-alike products of its popular Rapid Action Vicks brand, that were manufactured and distributed by a Bangalore-based drugs & pharmaceuticals company.

Continuing its crusade against spurious products across the country, the Rs 7-billion listed Bombay-based company smashed to pieces a truck-load of cartons consisting of Vicks tablets or mints, vapour, inhaler, and cough drops that were seized recently in a surprise raid P&G conducted on the warehouse and plant facilities of Biopharm Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, which is located in the industrial suburb of the bustling city.

P&G's public affairs senior manager Anthony Rose disclosed that the company's legal team had tracked down the 'fake' company with the help of the Bangalore police and a receiver's representative of the Bombay high court in November last and seized 40 cartons, containing 480 boxes of look-alike Rapid Action products with large quantities of packaging material that was infringing on the trademarks of P&G's famed Vicks Action 500+.

"When Biopharm challenged the decree before the high court, it was dismissed with a token cost of Rs 25,000 as compensation to P&G," Rose claimed, and added that the huge stocks were being destroyed in pursuant to the court's decree, first by using a sledge hammer and a road roller later to crush the whole set of boxes and cartons.

Admitting that P&G had suffered a loss of 15-20 per cent in sales of these products during last financial year, ending June 2000, thanks to the free run of such illegal products in urban as well as semi-urban areas in the country, the company had launched an aggressive drive against manufacturers of counterfeits and look-a-likes, which put a deceptive look-a-likes into the market.

"These bogus companies across the country have been not only denying the government in taxes and other revenues to the tune of Rs 7-8 billion, but also harming the gullible consumers by palming of fake items taking advantage of similar packaging, colours and get up to con consumers."

Similar raids were conducted by the company in Ahmedabad, Bombay, Indore, and Delhi during the last few months, cases were filed, and goods confiscated after obtaining a decree from the courts.

The company, however, has no information on how long such fake products were in circulation in the country, and how much of it remains in circulation.

The spurious racket is not confined to drugs and pharmaceutical, but has also spread its tentacles far and wide to other category of fast-moving consumer goals (FMCG) such as home products like washing powder, soaps, and shampoos, cosmetics, toothpaste's, and dry cells.

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