New Delhi, 26 December (HS): The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a fine of Rs 7 lakh each on Vajirao & Reddy Institute and StudyIQ IAS and Rs 1 lakh on Edge IAS for advertising misleading claims regarding the results of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2022 and 2023.

The Ministry of Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs said in a statement on Thursday that the Central Consumer Protection Authority headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra has imposed this fine for violation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Along with this, the CCPA has ordered Vajirao & Reddy Institute, StudyIQ IAS Study and Edge IAS to stop misleading advertisements with immediate effect.

The authority has taken this action to protect and promote the rights of consumers. This will also ensure that no false or misleading advertisement is made for any goods or services that violate the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. According to the investigation of the CCPA, the Vajirao & Reddy Institute has made the following claims in its advertisement:-

617 out of 933 selections in UPSC CSE 2022,

7 in top 10 AIRs,

16 in top 20 AIRs,

39 in top 50 AIRs,

72 in top 100 AIRs,

We are ranked first in the list of top UPSC coaching institutes in India. The CCPA found in its investigation that the Vajirao & Reddy Institute prominently displayed the names and photographs of the successful candidates. Along with this, it also advertised various types of paid courses on its official website. However, information regarding the course chosen by the said successful candidates in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2022 was not released in the above-mentioned advertisement. CCPA found in its investigation that all the 617 successful candidates claimed were enrolled under the interview guidance program. It is the consumer's right to know which specific course the successful candidates took from the coaching institute to make it to the final selection of CSE. This information will be helpful for potential consumers to decide about the course to be chosen for their success in CSE.

It is worth mentioning that CCPA had earlier taken action against coaching institutes for giving misleading advertisements. In this regard, CCPA has so far issued 45 notices to various coaching institutes for giving misleading advertisements. Apart from this, CCPA has imposed a fine of Rs 71 lakh 60 thousand on 22 coaching institutes, and has also directed them to stop misleading advertisements.

Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar