CCPA imposes penalties on UPSC coaching institutes for misleading ads; order against Vajirao & Reddy Institute, StudyIQ IAS, Edge IAS

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has taken significant action against coaching institutes that made misleading claims regarding their success in the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE). In recent orders, the CCPA imposed penalties totaling Rs 9 lakh on three coaching institutes, that is Vajirao & Reddy Institute, StudyIQ IAS and Edge IAS, following investigations into false or misleading advertisements.

Vajirao & Reddy Institute was fined Rs 7 lakh after the CCPA found that its advertisements misrepresented the success rates of its courses. The institute claimed that 617 students had been successful in UPSC CSE 2022, with 7 students in the top 10, and 39 in the top 50 ranks. However, the advertisement failed to disclose that all 617 successful candidates had only enrolled in the Interview Guidance Programme (IGP), not the full range of courses offered by the institute. This omission misled potential students into believing that all courses offered by Vajirao & Reddy had equally high success rates, which was not the case.

Similarly, StudyIQ IAS, one of the biggest education channel on YouTube with 18.8 million subscribers, was fined Rs 7 lakh for making misleading claims in its advertisement for UPSC CSE 2023. The institute advertised '120+ selections' and offered 'Success Pakka Offer' and 'Selection Pakka Offer', but failed to disclose which courses the successful candidates had enrolled in. Of the 134 candidates it claimed to have helped succeed, 126 had enrolled in the Interview Guidance Programme (IGP), a course not highlighted in the institute's advertisement. This lack of transparency created a deceptive impression that all courses had equal success rates. StudyIQ IAS also failed to provide adequate documentation, such as enrollment forms and fee receipts, to substantiate its claims.

Edge IAS was penalized Rs 1 lakh for similar violations in its UPSC CSE 2023 advertisement. The institute displayed names and photographs of 13 successful candidates but concealed which courses they had taken. The CCPA discovered that 11 of these candidates had enrolled in the IGP, and 2 had enrolled in both IGP and a Mentoring Course, which only applies after passing the Preliminary and Mains examinations. By omitting this crucial information, Edge IAS misled consumers about the effectiveness of its advertised courses.

According to Section 2(28)(iv) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, advertisements that conceal important information are considered misleading.

The CCPA has been proactive in curbing such deceptive practices. To date, the authority has issued 45 notices to coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and imposed a cumulative penalty of Rs 71.6 lakh on 22 institutes. The CCPA has also ordered these institutes to cease publishing such misleading advertisements.