New Delhi, May 30 (IANS) The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Saturday said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 7,00,000 on Vajiram and Ravi IAS Study Centre for indulging in misleading advertisement through deliberate concealment of material information.

The CCPA, headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare, and Commissioner Anupam Mishra, passed the order after observing that the coaching institute made tall claims and prominently used the names, photographs, and achievements of successful candidates of the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2023, while concealing important information regarding the specific courses opted for by such candidates.

The decision, said the CCPA, was taken to protect and promote the rights of consumers as a class and to ensure that no false or misleading advertisement is made in respect of any goods or services in contravention of the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

The consumer agency noted that the Interview Guidance Programme (IGP) is a programme that commences only after a candidate has independently cleared both the Preliminary and Mains stages of the UPSC CSE -- two highly rigorous competitive stages at which the institute had no academic contribution.

By prominently featuring such candidates alongside advertisements for comprehensive paid coaching programmes, without any disclosure of the specific course opted for, the institute created a misleading impression that these candidates were products of its full-length coaching programmes, said the CCPA in a statement.

So far, the CCPA has issued more than 60 notices to coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices in order to safeguard the interests of students and to ensure transparency in the coaching sector.

The CCPA has imposed penalties amounting to over Rs 1.46 crore on coaching institutes offering coaching for examinations such as UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE), IIT-JEE, NEET, RBI, and other competitive examinations.

The CCPA observed that non-disclosure of the specific courses opted for by successful candidates including whether such candidates attended full-length classroom programmes, optional subject coaching, test series, or a free interview guidance programme of short duration amounts to misleading advertisement under the Act, as it deprives prospective consumers of the ability to make an informed choice.

--IANS

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