The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has taken punitive action against Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study over misleading advertisements.
The apex body of consumer protection has imposed a penalty of Rs 2 lakh on the owner of the civil service coaching centre for making false claims in an advertisement. The ad claimed that 13 students achieved ranks in the top 100, 28 in the top 200, and 39 in the top 300 in the UPSC CSE 2023 exam.
Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study prominently displayed successful candidates’ names and pictures and simultaneously advertised various types of courses they provided on its official website. However, it never disclosed which courses the successful candidates had taken.
The CCPA found that 26 successful candidates were enrolled in Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) Crash Course & Test Series; 10 students in Essay Program for Mains; 2 students each in Rapid Revision (Polity, Governance & International Relations) and Political Science & International Relations (PSIR), and Sociology Offline Batch; eight students in PSIR Answer Writing Module.
According to the investigation, the coaching centre offered nearly 50-plus courses but most of the claimed successful students took the 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 to their making an informed choice about the course to opt for their success at CSE,” the government said.
“By deliberately concealing information about the specific course opted by each of the successful candidates, Institute made it look like all the courses offered by it had the same success rate for the consumers, which was not right”, the CCPA added.
Further, the consumers’ rights body said that the institute used terms like “Shubhra Ranjan IAS” and “Students of Shubhra Ranjan IAS” in its advertisements and letterheads, creating a deceptive impression that Mrs. Shubhra Ranjan is/was an IAS officer. This was a misleading act for 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, CCPA said.
“The Institute utilized deceptive practices to create a perception of exceptional quality and success. An advertisement should be truthful & honest representation of facts by making disclosures in such a manner that they are clear, prominent and extremely hard to miss for viewers to notice,” the CCPA said in a statement.
The government body directed the Institute to discontinue the misleading advertisements with immediate effect and pay a penalty of Rs 2 lakh for publishing misleading advertisements.
Last month, CCPA imposed a penalty of Rs 7 lakh on Vajirao & Reddy Institute for advertising misleading claims regarding the results of UPSC CSE 2022. Vajirao & Reddy Institute in its advertisement claimed “617 selections out of 933 in UPSC CSE 2022” and “We are ranked at 1st position among the list of top UPSC Coaching Institutes in India”. The CCPA found out that all the claimed 617 successful candidates were enrolled in the Interview Guidance Programme, provided “Free of Cost”.
So far, the CCPA has issued 45 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements. The CCPA has imposed a penalty of Rs 63, 60,000 on 20 coaching institutes and directed them to discontinue the misleading advertisements.
The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has tried to resolve the grievances of 432 affected by facilitating a total refund of Rs 1.15 crore between September 2023 and 31 August 2024 so far.