Royal Mabati factory Limited (RML) will now pay a cash penalty of Ksh 2,652,363 after the competition tribunal dismissed their appeal to overturn the penalty set for misleading customers.

The roof sheets manufacturer was also found guilty of allegedly forcing its customers to change order specifications after purchase, failure of or delayed deliveries customers being required to pay delivery fees despite their adverts indicating that the services were free countrywide.

In addition to the monetary penalty, Royal Mabati will be required to refund the aggrieved customers through refunds within 60 days or free delivery of the products within 30 days.

Prior to the decision by the tribunal, the roof sheets manufacturer had moved to court to challenge the penalty set by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) in May 2020 which came after a section of customers filed various complaints regarding their services,  upon which investigations were conducted.

"On various dates between March 2018 and March 2020, CAK received 13 complaints from customers of RML regarding the failure of or delayed deliveries and requiring customers to pay a delivery fee, despite advertisements indicating that the service was free countrywide, "CAK wrote in a statement shared on Tuesday, May 17.

In May 2020, the authority notified RML that they had infringed the aforementioned provisions of law, however, the roof sheet manufacturer dismissed the allegations and infringed a CAK cease and Desist order that required that they stop running their free delivery adverts.