CCPA imposes penalty on 'Sriram's IAS' coaching institute for misleading ad

Section- 2(28) (iv) of Consumer Protection Act talks about misleading advertisement in relation to deliberately concealing important information. Information regarding the course opted by successful candidates is important for the consumers to know so that they can make informed choice while deciding which course and coaching institute to join.

Sriram’s IAS in its response submitted the details of only 171 successful candidates against its claim of 200 plus selections in UPSC CSE 2022. Out of these 171 candidates, 102 were from Free Interview Guidance Programme (IGP), 55 were from Free Test Series, 9 were from 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 not disclosed in their advertisement, thereby deceiving consumers.

It is a well-known fact that successful candidates of Civil Services Examination have to clear all the 3 stages of Exams. Viz., Prelims, Main Exams and Personality Test (PT). While Prelims is a screening test, the marks obtained in both Mains Exams and Personality Test are counted for getting finally selected. The total marks for Main Exams and PT are 1750 and 275 respectively. Thus contribution of Personality Test is 13.5% in the total marks. Majority of candidates had already cleared Preliminary and Mains examination by himself/herself, with no contribution of Sriram’s IAS. By concealing this important fact, such false & misleading advertisement creates huge impact on those consumers who are UPSC aspirants without letting them know that Sriram’s IAS had offered guidance to only such successful candidates who had already cleared Preliminary and Mains examination of UPSC examination. Thus, the advertisement has violated the consumer’s right to be informed so as to protect himself against unfair trade practice.