CCPA imposes ₹3 lakh penalty on Sriram’s IAS for misleading UPSC exam claims

New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of ₹3 lakh on Sriram’s IAS, a coaching institute, for making misleading claims about the results of the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2022.

The CCPA's action follows complaints that the coaching institute's advertisements suggested a higher success rate than the actual case.

Coaching institutes often make exaggerated claims about the success rate of their students by including candidates who have not even taken a paid class or used other paid facilities of the coaching institute.

Some coaching institutes use such tactics to attract more students.

Mint reported on this issue in November 2023, highlighting the discrepancies and the resulting scrutiny by consumer protection authorities.

In a statement, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said, “During the investigation, it was found that Sriram’s IAS advertised various courses but deliberately concealed information about the specific courses taken by the successful candidates for the CSE 2022 results. This misled consumers into believing that all the successful candidates had used the paid courses advertised by the institute on its website.”

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“Sriram’s IAS advertised ‘200+ selections in UPSC Civil Service Exam 2022’ and claimed to be “India’s No.1 Prestigious UPSC/IAS Coaching Institute,” the ministry said.

However, the institute provided details of only 171 successful candidates. Of these, 102 were from the free interview guidance programme (IGP), 55 from the free test series, nine from the general studies classroom course, and five from free coaching under a state government scheme. 

This was not disclosed in their advertisement, misleading consumers, the ministry said.

As per the statement, CCPA chief commissioner and consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare stressed that advertisements must be truthful and clearly display all important information to consumers.

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Queries emailed to Sriram’s IAS remained unanswered till press time.

Section 2(28)(iv) of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA 2019) addresses misleading advertisements that hide important information. Knowing which course successful candidates took helps consumers make informed decisions about which coaching institute to choose.

Mint had earlier reported in November 2023 that coaching institutes would no longer be allowed to use the photos or testimonials of toppers or successful candidates of India’s civil services examinations to attract future students for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) coaching.

The CCPA had also asked all IAS coaching centers to stop using false testimonials of successful students or fake reviews to grow their coaching business, as reported by Mint.

The ministry is also preparing detailed guidelines to curb misleading ads, which are expected to be released very soon. The IAS coaching sector constitutes ₹3,000 crore of the overall coaching industry, which is valued at ₹58,088 crore. Delhi is considered the hub for coaching for UPSC's civil services examinations.

The draft rules bar coaching centers from making false claims, such as guaranteeing 100% selection in exams conducted by UPSC, and from cherry-picking exceptional cases to create a skewed impression of success.