The Central Consumer Protection Authority has imposed a penalty of ₹3 lakh on Vision IAS for advertising misleading claims regarding the result of UPSC CSE 2020.

The decision was taken to protect and promote the rights of consumers as a class and ensure that no false or misleading advertisement is made of any goods or services which contravenes the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Given the violation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the CCPA, headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare, and Commissioner Anupam Mishra has issued an Order against Vision IAS.

Remember, Vision IAS in its advertisement claimed “10 in Top 10 selections in CSE 2020 from various programs of Vision IAS”.

The CCPA found out that Vision IAS prominently displayed successful candidate’s names and pictures. However, the information concerning the course opted by the said successful candidates in the UPSC Civil Service Exam 2020 was not disclosed in the abovementioned advertisement.

Vision IAS mentioned the course opted by AIR 1- UPSC CSE 2020 i.e. GS Foundation Batch Classroom Student but deliberately concealed information regarding the courses chosen by the other nine successful candidates. This concealment created a misleading impression that the remaining nine candidates were also enrolled in the ‘GS Foundation Batch Classroom Student’ course which was not true.

Out of the remaining nine candidates- one took foundation courses, six took test series related to the Pre and Mains stage and two candidates took the Abhyaas test.

Further, CCPA examined the digital profiles and fee receipts submitted by Vision IAS and discovered that the Foundation course is the most expensive, costing ₹1,40,000/-, whereas the Abhyaas one-time prelims mock test costs only ₹750. As per the available information, Rank-1 enrolled in the Foundation Course 2018 (Classroom/Offline), and Rank-8 enrolled in the Online Foundation Course 2015 of the Institute.

CCPA found that Rank 2, Rank 3, Rank 5, Rank 7, Rank 8, and Rank 10 of UPSC CSE 2020 enrolled in the GS Mains Test Series. This comes into play in the Mains examination i.e. after clearing the prelims examination which is a screening test wherein approximately only one per cent of students can clear the said stage, making it the toughest stage with the most competition.

The abovementioned students took the GS Mains test series which is one of the various components of the Mains examination which implies that the aforementioned candidates cleared the prelims and Interview stages on their own, without any contribution of the opposite party.

Additionally, Rank-4 and Rank-9 of UPSC CSE 2020 enrolled in the Abhyaas test, a mock test for the Prelims exam. Rank-6 enrolled in the GS Prelims Test Series. This implies that the abovementioned candidates cleared the Mains and Interview stages on their own, without any contribution from the opposite party.

By deliberately concealing the specific course opted for by each of the successful candidates, Vision IAS made it look like all the courses offered by it had the same success rate for the consumers, which was not right. These facts are important for the potential students to decide on the courses that may be suitable for them and should not have been concealed in the advertisement.

CCPA has observed that several coaching institutes use the same successful candidate’s names and photographs in their advertisements while deliberately concealing important information about specific courses opted by them to create a deception that the successful candidates were regular classroom students at the coaching institute or were students of several courses offered in the advertisement.

Therefore, information regarding the specific course opted for by successful candidates is vital for the knowledge of consumers to enable them to make an informed choice while deciding the course and coaching institute/platform to enrol in.

In light of these circumstances, CCPA found it necessary to impose a penalty in the interest of young and impressionable aspirants to address such false or misleading advertisements.

CCPA has taken action against several coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices. In this regard, CCPA has so far issued 46 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices. The CCPA has imposed a penalty of 74 lakhs 60 thousand on 23 coaching institutes and directed them to discontinue the misleading advertisements.