CCPA imposes ₹2 lakh fine on Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study for misleading ad about UPSC toppers
An IAS coaching institute has been penalized for misleading advertisement about its success rates. Discover what they did wrong.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has fined Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study ₹2 lakh for misleadingly advertising Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2023 toppers.
The consumer protection watchdog said that the coaching institute published ads without full disclosure of the courses opted by successful candidates. Further, it added that the terms used in those advertisements gave the impression that Mrs. Shubhra Ranjan is/was an IAS officer.
Also read: CCPA issues guidelines to ensure transparency across coaching sector
According to CCPA, the coaching institute claimed that it had 13 students in the top 100, 28 in the top 200 and 23 in the top 300 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination in 2023.
It added that the advertisements prominently depicted photographs and names of the successful candidates without mentioning any information about the specific course they opted for.
Also read: CCPA fines IAS coaching firm ₹3 lakh for misleading ad
“Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study prominently displayed successful candidate’s names & pictures and simultaneously advertised various types of courses provided by them on its official website. However, the information with respect to the course opted by the said successful candidates in UPSC Civil Service exam 2023 was not disclosed in the abovementioned advertisement,” CCPA said in an official statement.
“…the DG Investigation report found that most of the claimed successful students took Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) crash course & test series which comes into play after clearing Preliminary examination. It is the right of the consumer to be informed about the specific course that successful candidates had taken from the coaching institute to make it into the final selection of CSE. For the potential consumers, this information would have contributed in their making an informed choice about the course to opt for….”
CCPA said the institute deliberately concealed information about specific courses opted by successful candidates to make it look like all its courses had the same success rate.
On the use of misleading terms, CCPA said "Shubhra Ranjan IAS" and "Students of Shubhra Ranjan IAS" gave the impression that Subha Ranjan is or was an IAS officer.
“This constitutes a misrepresentation and unfair trade practice under Consumer Protection Act 2019, thereby misleading the public and potential students into believing that the services or guidance provided by them are directly associated with the credibility of an IAS officer. The Institute submitted that it was a clerical mistake, which is not tenable as the term Shubhra Ranjan IAS or @shubhraranjanias has been frequently used on its letterheads and in its advertisements”.
CCPA has so far issued 45 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and imposed penalties of ₹63 lakh 60 thousand on 20 coaching institutes.
