CCPA cracks down on civil service coaching institutes for misleading ads; issues notices against 45 of them

New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has served notices on 45 coaching institutes for allegedly violating consumer rights with misleading advertisements and unethical tactics. The notices have been reviewed by Mint.These actions are part of the CCPA's broader initiative to protect consumers, including students and aspirants, from deceptive practices that violate the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Of these, 15 institutes have been penalized, with total fines amounting to ₹38.60 lakh.

Mint first reported on the practice in November 2023.

Courses not disclosed

CCPA Chief Commissioner and Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare highlighted the fact that most IAS coaching institutes do not disclose the specific courses that were taken by successful candidates.

In a large number of cases investigated by the CCPA, it was found that these institutes often provide online or offline interview guidance, sometimes for free, to aspirants who clear the all-important mains exam.

The preliminary exam is the first stage, and is attempted by 1.1-1.3 million aspirants. The mains exam, the second stage, is cleared by about 3,000 out of roughly 10,000 who pass the prelims, Khare told Mint.

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“They do this because they know that at least one in three candidates is likely to be selected by the UPSC,” she said.

“If they had provided truthful information about the successful candidates and the courses they took, prospective consumers would not have been misled into spending money and time on their expensive, year-long classroom programmes."

The penalized

The coaching institutes that have been penalized include Rau’s IAS Study Circle, IQRA IAS, Chahal Academy, Analog IAS, APTI PLUS Academy, and Unacademy, each with a penalty of ₹1 lakh; Maluka IAS, EduTap Learning Solutions, Yojana and Plutus IAS, and Sriram’s IAS, each with ₹3 lakh; KSG - Khan Study Group IAS and Shankar IAS Academy with ₹5 lakh; and BYJU’s IAS with ₹10 lakh. Seekers Education was fined ₹50,000, and Skyway Career Hub ₹10,000.

Among the 45 coaching institutes that have been issued notices for misleading advertisements include Vajirao & Reddy Institute, Vision IAS, Aakash Educational Services, Vajiram & Ravi, Narayan Medical Academy, IAS Baba, Allen Career Institute, Shubra Ranjan IAS, Abhimanu IAS, Anujjindal, ALS IAS, Sriram’s IAS, Dhishti IAS, NEXT IAS, IIT Prashikshan, Pune, and StudyIQ IAS, among others.

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Section 2(28)(iv) of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA 2019) addresses misleading advertisements that hide important information.

"While the penalties imposed on each coaching institute might seem small individually, the message is loud and clear: any entity engaging in malpractice will face significant consequences," said Ashim Sanyal, the Chief Operating Officer and Secretary of Consumer VOICE.

Blocks on institutes

Mint had 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) exam coaching.

The CCPA had also asked all IAS coaching centres to stop using false testimonials of successful students or fake reviews to grow their coaching business.

The consumer affairs ministry is 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.

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Delhi is considered the main centre for coaching for UPSC's civil services examinations.

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

Queries emailed to all coaching institutes mentioned in the story remained unanswered till press time.