The Central Consumer Protection Authority today imposed a fine on a leading UPSC coaching centre. A fine of Rs 3 lakh was imposed for “misleading” advertisement. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in a statement that the CCPA has taken action against Sriram K IAS, whose headquarters are in Delhi. Misleading advertisement regarding UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2022Violation The ministry said that under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 … Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 under the Consumer Protection Act, 20
“Coaching institutes and online edtech platforms use the photographs and names of the same successful candidates to influence prospective candidates (consumers) without disclosing the course opted by such candidates and the duration of the course,” the statement said.
Deceptive advertising claims
Shriram IAS made the following two claims in its advertisement: “More than 200 selections in UPSC Civil Services Exam 2022” and “We are India’s No. 1 reputed UPSC/IAS coaching institute.”
The CCPA further found that the ‘misleading’ advertisement given by Shriram IAS did not contain any information about the courses opted by the successful candidates. The institution felt that such information was “deliberately concealed” in the advertisement.
“This leads consumers to falsely believe that all the successful candidates declared by the Institute had opted for the paid courses advertised by the Institute on its website,” the statement said.
In its reply, Sriram K IAS submitted details of only 171 successful candidates against its claim of over 200 selections in UPSC CSE 2022. Out of these 171 candidates, 102 were from the Free Interview Guidance Programme (IGP), 55 were from the Free Test Series, 9 were from the GS Classroom Course and 5 candidates were from various states under the MoU signed between the state government and the institute for providing free coaching.
“This fact was not disclosed in their advertisements, thereby misleading the consumers,” it said.
Nidhi Khare, Chief Commissioner of CCPA, told An advertisement must present facts “truly and honestly” and important information must be disclosed in a manner that is “clear, conspicuous and difficult to miss” for consumers.