NEW DELHI: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Sunday imposed Rs 2 lakh penalty on Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study for publishing misleading advertisements. It has also directed the institute to discontinue the misleading advertisements with immediate effect.
According to a statement released by ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, the “official website of Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study featured details of successful candidates and simultaneously advertised various types of courses provided by them on its official website. However, the information with respect to the course opted by the said successful candidates in UPSC Civil Service exam 2023 was not disclosed in the abovementioned advertisement.”
“Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study in its advertisement claimed, 13 students in Top 100, 28 students in Top 200, and 39 students in Top 300 in UPSC CSE 2023,” it added.
This decision was taken to protect the rights of consumers as a class and ensure that no false or misleading advertisement is made of any goods or services which contravenes the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the statement read.
The government alleged that coaching institutes used terms like “Shubhra Ranjan IAS” and “Students of Shubhra Ranjan IAS” in its advertisements and letterheads, falsely implying that Shubhra Ranjan is or was an IAS officer.
This misrepresentation constitutes an unfair trade practice, misleading the public and prospective students into believing the institute’s services were directly associated with the credibility of an IAS officer.
Although the institute claimed this was a clerical error, the explanation was deemed unacceptable due to the repeated use of these terms in its materials.
“The institute offers nearly 50+ courses. However, the DG Investigation report found that most of the claimed successful students took the Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) crash course & test series which comes into play after clearing Preliminary examination. 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 opt for their success at CSE,” the statement read.
“By deliberately concealing information about the specific course opted by each of the successful candidates, Institute made it look like all the courses offered by it had the same success rate for the consumers, which was not right. Section 2(28) (iv) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, defines misleading advertisements, including those that involve the “deliberately conceals important information,” it added
Consequently, CCPA mandated immediate discontinuation of these advertisements and imposed a penalty. This action is part of the CCPA’s broader crackdown on deceptive advertising practices by coaching institutes.
CCPA has so far issued 45 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements. The CCPA has imposed a penalty of 63 lakhs 60 thousands on 20 coaching institutes and directed them to discontinue the misleading advertisements.