CCPA imposes penalty of Rs 3 Lakh on Sriram’s IAS for advertising misleading claims

New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Sunday imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh for misleading advertisements on Sriram’s IAS, regarding the result of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Service Exam 2022.

The penalty by CCPA, headed by Chief Commissioner, Nidhi Khare, and Commissioner, Anupam Mishra, was for claiming “200 plus selections in UPSC Civil Service Exam 2022” and “India's No.1 prestigious UPSC/IAS coaching institute”.

“The decision was taken to protect and promote 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,” said CCPA.

The CCPA informed that to influence prospective aspirants (consumers), coaching Institutes and online edtech platforms often use pictures and names of the same successful candidates. They do this without disclosing the courses opted for by such candidates and the duration attended.

“An advertisement shall contain a truthful and honest representation of facts by disclosing important information in such a manner that they are clear, prominent, and extremely hard to miss for consumers,” said Nidhi Khare, Chief Commissioner of CCPA.

She also highlighted the importance of consumer rights and the obligation of advertisers to provide accurate information to consumers.

The CCPA found out that Sriram’s IAS advertised various types of courses but the information concerning the course opted for by the advertised successful candidates in the 2022 UPSC Civil Service exams results was deliberately concealed in the advertisement.

This led the consumers to falsely believe that all the successful candidates claimed by the Institute had opted for the paid courses advertised by the Institute on its website.

While Sriram’s IAS claimed 200 plus selections in UPSC CSE 2022, it submitted the details of only 171 successful candidates.

Of these, 102 candidates were from the free interview guidance programme (IGP), 55 were from the free test series, 9 were from the GS classroom course and 5 candidates were from different States under the MoU signed between the state government and the Institute to provide free coaching.

This fact was also not disclosed in their advertisement, thereby deceiving consumers, the CCPA said.

Further, the order noted that the majority of candidates had already cleared the Preliminary and Mains examination by themselves, with no contribution from Sriram’s IAS.

The advertisement misled the new potential UPSC aspirants that Sriram’s IAS had offered guidance to only such successful candidates who had already cleared the Preliminary and Mains examinations of the UPSC examination.

“Thus, the advertisement has violated the consumer’s right to be informed so as to protect himself against unfair trade practice,” the CCPA said.