It’s being reported today that Australia's competition regulator said a court ordered the local unit of Samsung Electronics to pay a A$14 million (US$9.65 million) penalty for nine misleading advertisements about a water-resistance feature in some of its smartphones.

Samsung Australia admitted to misleading buyers of some of its 'Galaxy' phones about the water-resistance level, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said. The regulator had first sued the company in July 2019.

Reuters further reported that “The regulator said between March 2016 and October 2018, the company ran in-store and social media advertisements that claimed the phones could be used in pools or sea water.

The ACCC, however, received hundreds of complaints from users saying the smartphones did not function properly or even stopped working entirely after being exposed to water. The claims "promoted an important selling point for these Galaxy phones.

Samsung and the ACCC agreed that changes the company had made to newer models of the smartphones launched in Australia from March 2018 did not face such risks.”