FOUNDATION MAGAZINE FINANCIAL ADVICE STOCKLETTERS PORTFOLIO PMS BOOKS
BUY
Rs15 Lakh Penalty on 3 Coaching Institutes for Misleading Claims in UPSC Success Rates
Moneylife Digital Team 26 December 2024
Consumer Interest
The central consumer protection authority (CCPA) has imposed penalties totalling Rs15 lakh on three coaching institutes for making misleading advertisements about their success rates in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) civil services examinations in 2022 and 2023.
 
Vajirao & Reddy Institute and StudyIQ IAS were each fined Rs7 lakh, while Edge IAS was penalised Rs1 lakh for deceptive claims regarding their results in the UPSC.
 
In a release, the Union ministry of consumer affairs, food & public distribution says CCPA found that the institutes deliberately concealed that most of their successful candidates had only enrolled in interview guidance programmes, creating a misleading impression about the effectiveness of their other courses.
 
CCPA found out that Vajirao & Reddy Institute prominently displayed successful candidates’ names and pictures and simultaneously advertised various types of paid courses on its website. However, the information, with respect to the course opted for by the successful candidates in the UPSC civil service examination 2022, was not disclosed in the advertisement.
 
Vajirao & Reddy Institute, in its advertisement, claimed '617 selections out of 933 in UPSC CSE 2022', '7 in Top 10 AIR' and 'We are ranked at 1st position among the list of top UPSC coaching institutes in India'.
 
"All the claimed 617 successful candidates were enrolled in the interview guidance programme. It is the right of the consumer to be informed about the specific course that successful candidates had taken from the coaching institute to make it into the final selection of CSE. For the potential consumers, this information would have contributed in their making an informed choice about the course to be opted for their success at CSE," the authority says.
 
StudyIQ IAS, which offers over 60 courses, claimed '120+ selections in UPSC CSE 2023'. 
 
CCPA, after examining the institute's reply and investigation report, found that out of these 134, 126 students opted for the interview guidance programme (IGP), three were enrolled in the ethics & essay crash course, two each were enrolled in the mains residential programme course and mock test, one each were enrolled in foundation, online mains residential programme (MRP) course and detailed application form (DAF) analysis courses. 
 
"StudyIQ IAS, by deliberately concealing the specific name of the course opted by the successful candidates, created a misleading impression on consumers into making an uninformed choice about the quality of its service regarding the advertised courses, in which IGP has not been advertised at all. StudyIQ IAS failed to substantiate its claim ‘success pakka offer’ and ‘selection pakka offer’ and also failed to submit application, enrolment and registration forms and fee receipts of the claimed successful candidates of UPSC CSE 2023," CCPA says.
 
CCPA also imposed a penalty of Rs1 lakh on Edge IAS for advertising misleading claims regarding the results of UPSC CSE 2023. In its published advertisement, Edge IAS prominently carried pictures and names of 13 successful candidates for the UPSC civil service exam 2023 while concealing important information, such as the course for which they opted. 
 
CCPA found that 11 students were enrolled in the IGP, and two were enrolled in the mentoring course and IGP, which comes into play only after clearing the preliminary and main examinations.
 
So far, CCPA has issued 45 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements. The CCPA has imposed a penalty of Rs71.60 lakh on 22 coaching institutes and directed them to discontinue the misleading advertisements.
Comments
iaminprabhu
3 weeks ago
The PENALTY (in few lakhs) is very less compared to the CRORES these Institute earn based on FALSE - PARTIAL sharing of reality, FOOLING the Parents - Students to run their business houses!

They must PUBLISH FULL PAGE APOLOGIES in same Media, ehete such Advertised claims were made
Reply
Consumer Interest
When Warnings Fail: Need To Tackle Cybercrime through Gamification
Sucheta Dalal, 27 December 2024
If there is one area where the government and its regulators cannot be faulted, it is their tireless effort to warn citizens about cybercrime and fraud. All regulators, banks, stock exchanges, depositories, financial intermediaries...
Consumer Interest
Housing Society Problems and Solutions: Addressing Nominations, Fund Distribution and Maintenance Disputes
Shirish Shanbhag 26 December 2024
Navigating the complexities of cooperative housing society (CHS/Society) management often requires a nuanced understanding of the rules, bye-laws, and processes that govern day-to-day operations and long-term planning. This week, we...
Consumer Interest
Dabur Takes Patanjali to Delhi High Court over Disparaging Chyawanprash Ad
S N Thyagarajan (Bar  and  Bench) 24 December 2024
Consumer goods giant Dabur on Tuesday moved a suit before the Delhi High Court alleging that Patanjali Ayurved is running disparaging advertisements against its Chyawanprash products.
 
Dabur pressed for immediate orders restraining...
Consumer Interest
California Court Holds NSO Group Liable for Hacking WhatsApp in Spyware Case: Report
Moneylife Digital Team 23 December 2024
On 20th December, a California district judge ruled that NSO group, an Israeli company making spyware known for the famous Pegasus spyware that was also found illegally injected in the phones of many Indian activists, had breached...
ArrayArray
  • EDITORS'
    PICKS
  • MOST
    POPULAR
  • MOST
    READ
Free Helpline
Legal Credit
Feedback
Buy Now!

Absolute Power

Inside story of the National Stock Exchange’s amazing success, leading to hubris, regulatory capture and algo scam

View Options

The Scam: Now in it's 12th Printing

29 Years Of The Scam: The Perennial Bestseller, reads like a Thriller!
#Scam92: Read the actual story.

Buy Now Gift Know More

Moneylife Online Magazine

Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.

1-year online access to the magazine articles published during the subscription period.
Access is given for all articles published during the week (starting Monday) your subscription starts. For example, if you subscribe on Wednesday, you will have access to articles uploaded from Monday of that week.
This means access to other articles (outside the subscription period) are not included.
Articles outside the subscription period can be bought separately for a small price per article.

Buy Now Gift Know More

Monthly Digital Access

Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.

30-day online access to the magazine articles published during the subscription period.
Access is given for all articles published during the week (starting Monday) your subscription starts. For example, if you subscribe on Wednesday, you will have access to articles uploaded from Monday of that week.
This means access to other articles (outside the subscription period) are not included.
Articles outside the subscription period can be bought separately for a small price per article.

Buy Now Know More

Full Archive access

Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.
Complete access to Moneylife archives since inception ( till the date of your subscription )

Buy Now

Stockletters in 5 Flavours

Outstanding research that beats mutual funds year after year

Buy Now Know More

MAS: Complete Online Financial Advisory

(Includes Moneylife Online Magazine)

Buy Now Know More
We are listening!
Reset
Success!

To continue

Please

or

With