Recently, the CCPA fined Shubh Ranjan Institute of IAS Studies Rs 2 lakh for misleading claims.
Days after imposing a fine on UPSC coaching, Shubh Ranjan Institute of IAS Studies, the consumer regulator CCPA has now fined three other coaching institutes Rs 15 lakh for making misleading advertisements. Three UPSC centers made misleading claims about their success rates in civil services examinations, the government said on Thursday.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has fined Vajirao & Reddy Institute and StudyIQ IAS Rs 700,000 and Edge IAS Rs 1 lakh for making misleading claims about their results in the 2022 and 2023 UPSC Civil Services exams. An official statement said.
The CCPA, headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare, found that the institutes deliberately hid the fact that many of their successful candidates had enrolled only in interview guidance programmes, creating a misleading impression about the effectiveness of their other courses.
Vajirao & Reddy Institute claimed “617 selections out of 933” in the 2022 exam, while StudyIQ IAS advertised “120+ selections” in 2023. The research revealed that most of the successful candidates in both institutes had only taken interview preparation courses.
StudyIQ IAS also failed to confirm its “Success Assured Offer” and “Selection Assured Offer” promotions, failed to provide enrollment forms and fee receipts of the claimed successful candidates. The institute advertised more than 60 courses but did not disclose that its interview guidance programme, which the most successful candidates took, was not among the advertised offerings.
The Consumer Protection Agency has issued 45 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and has collected a fine of Rs 71 lakh 6 thousand from 22 institutions so far. Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, advertisements that intentionally hide important information are classified as misleading and penalized.
(With information from PTI)