The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of ₹3 lakh for misleading advertisement on Sriram’s IAS, a civil service examinations coaching centre.
Sriram’s IAS in its advertisement had made the following claims: “200 plus selections in UPSC Civil Service Exam 2022” and “We are India’s No.1 Prestigious UPSC/IAS Coaching Institute”.
Nidhi Khare, Chief Commissioner of CCPA, said in a statement that 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.
Sriram’s IAS in its response to the CCPA 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, nine were from GS Classroom course and five 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,” the CCPA said in a release.
The CCPA observed that the total marks for Main Exams and Personality Test 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.” the CCPA said.
By concealing this important fact, such false and misleading advertisement creates a 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 the UPSC examination,” the CCPA said adding that the advertisement has violated the consumer’s right to be informed to protect himself against unfair trade practice.
