Amid a poster war between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, digital payment services firm PhonePe threatened legal action against the latter for using its logo in posters.
The first poster targeting Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee President Kamal Nath had surfaced on June 23 in Bhopal which called him “Corruption Nath” and tagged him as “Wanted”. The posters carried QR codes claiming Nath is wanted in several scams in Madhya Pradesh.
On the same day, rival posters targeting MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also surfaced across several walls in the city. Congress party also shared photographs of these posters.
The posters carried a QR code and Chouhan’s face with the text line “50% laao, PhonePe kaam karao” (pay 50 per cent commission to get your work done).
Reacting to the posters on Sunday, PhonePe took to Twitter saying that its logo should be removed from the posters. PhonePe wrote, “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.”
In a further tweet, the company wrote, “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 @INCMP to remove the posters and banners featuring our brand logo and colour.”
Meanwhile, a BJP worker from Gwalior approached the local police over a poster of Shivraj Singh Chouhan pasted on the walls near the city’s railway station.
A senior police officer said, “A BJP worker has given a complaint that his party is being defamed and based on that a case has been registered against an unknown person and an investigation is underway.”
