India: PhonePe warns Congress against 'unauthorised' use of logo in Madhya Pradesh poll posters

PhonePe, which is an Indian digital payment company, has issued a warning to the Indian National Congress, the opposition party in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

The warning comes amid a poster war between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has become viral and is deemed objectionable.

An official said on Tuesday that a police case was registered against unidentified persons in connection with objectionable posters of MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Singh Chandel said that a case was registered under relevant Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections at the Padao police station. However, the accused was not identified. The official said that the investigation was underway.

The recent posters feature a QR code with CM Chouhan's face on it, with an image of a PhonePe-like interface, and text which read in Hindi: "50% laao, PhonePe kaam karao (loosely translated in English as pay 50% commission to get your work done)".

The images and videos of these posters pasted on walls and other objects were shared by the state unit of the Congress on its Twitter handle. According to local reports, the posters emerged in cities like Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Sehore, Rewa, Mandsaur, Ujjain, Bhind, Balaghat, Budhni, which is the Assembly seat represented by the chief minister.

Congress party has claimed that it was just a reaction to the "poster war" which was allegedly started by BJP. This has become a raging issue ahead of the Assembly polls, scheduled to take place by year-end. Congress is referring to the objectionable posters of MP Congress president Kamal Nath.

Here's what PhonePe said

Meanwhile, the entire saga didn't sit well with the financial services company as it called out the unauthorised useof its logo by MP Congress and also said that it may take legal action against them.

PhonePe shared on its Twitter handle, "PhonePe objects to the unauthorized usage of its brand logo, by any third party, be it political or non-political. We are not associated with any political campaign or party."

"The PhonePe logo is a registered trademark of our company and any unauthorized use of PhonePe's intellectual property rights will invite legal action. We humbly request Madhya Pradesh Congress to remove the posters and banners featuring our brand logo and colour," it added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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