CCPA fines IAS coaching firm ₹3 lakh for misleading ad

Khare, who is also the Union consumer affairs secretary, and commissioner Anupam Mishra slapped the penalty after a CCPA probe held that the coaching institute had violated provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, which bars misleading, wrong or false advertisements prejudicial to consumers, along with concealment of facts.

Sriram’s IAS was probed for two claims. First, the institute had advertised that it had achieved “200-plus selections in UPSC Civil Service Exam 2022”. Second, its ads carried the tagline, “We are India's No.1 Prestigious UPSC/IAS Coaching Institute”.

In January, the CCPA had published a set of guidelines for commercial coaching institutes, making it an offence to make any type of guaranteed claims, such as selection to ‘prelims’ or assured ranks and scores, among other rules, related to advertisements.