The government’s action against IAS coaching centers for misleading advertisements continues. Now the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Shankar IAS Academy for advertising misleading claims about the result of UPSC Civil Services Exam 2022. CCPA has issued an order against Shankar IAS Academy to stop the misleading advertisement with immediate effect.
In fact, many coaching institutes start flooding the public with advertisements immediately after the announcement of the results of the UPSC Civil Services Examination. The names and pictures of the successful candidates are prominently shown in these advertisements. CCPA has issued notices to many coaching institutes for misleading advertisements, in which CCPA found that coaching institutes prominently use the names and pictures of the same successful candidate in their advertisements to create the illusion that the successful candidates are regular students of coaching institutes. After investigating various coaching institutes, CCPA found that most of the successful candidates had taken admission only for interview preparation or free courses offered by coaching institutes.
Many coaching centers are misleading UPSC aspirants
CCPA found that many coaching institutes recruit successful candidates but did not disclose the course chosen by such candidates and the duration of the course, thereby misleading prospective candidates (consumers). Hence, it has been decided to impose a fine on Shankar IAS Academy to protect and promote the rights of consumers (candidates). Also, it has been ensured that no false or misleading advertisement of any goods or services is made, which violates the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Why was Shankar IAS Academy fined Rs 5 lakh?
Shankar IAS Academy in its advertisement had made several claims regarding UPSC Civil Services Exam 2022, which are as follows-
- 336 out of 933 selected at all India level
- 40 candidates in top 100
- 42 candidates have been successful from Tamil Nadu, out of which 37 have studied from Shankar IAS Academy.
- Best IAS Academy in India.
Accused of attracting candidates by hiding the truth
The investigation found that the academy gave information about only 333 successful candidates and hid the truth about many courses. They hid the information in the advertisement about how many successful candidates had taken their paid courses. This gave the candidates the illusion that all the successful students had taken the academy’s courses.
Shankar IAS Academy has reported only 333 successful candidates as against its claim of over 336 selections in UPSC CSE 2022. It also claimed that out of 336 students, 221 took the free interview guidance program, 71 took the Mains test series, 35 took the prelims exam series, 12 took the Prelims cum Mains General Studies and 4 took the prelims exam series along with some other Mains course (optional and/or GS). This attracts youth to the paid courses of coaching institutes.
irregularities found during investigation
CCPA found that in 18 cases where candidates purchased the prelims course from Shankar IAS Academy, the receipt mentioned the course starting date as 09.10.2022, but the preliminary exam of UPSC CSE 2022 exam was already conducted on 05.06.2022 and the result was declared on 22.06.2022, which can only mean that these candidates purchased the prelims course for the next UPSC CSE preliminary exam i.e. 2023. Shankar IAS has claimed these candidates in its overall selection list of UPSC CSE 2022.
What does the Chief Commissioner of CCPA have to say?
Nidhi Khare, Chief Commissioner, CCPA, said, “According to media reports, more than 10 lakh candidates apply for the UPSC Civil Services Examination every year. The advertisement of Shankar IAS Academy was targeted at a segment of consumers, i.e. UPSC aspirants. Therefore, such advertisements should contain true and honest representation of facts by disclosing important information so that they are clear, prominent and it is extremely difficult for consumers to ignore them.”
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)