2024-12-26 13:37:11 :
New Delhi, Dec 26 (PTI) The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a total of $The government on Thursday said three training institutes have been fined Rs 15 lakh for publishing misleading advertisements on the success rate of civil service examinations.
Both Vajirao & Reddy Institute and StudyIQ IAS were fined $700,000 while Edge IAS was penalized $1 lakh for committing fraud in the results of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination 2022 and 2023, an official statement said.
The CCPA, headed by chief commissioner Nidhi Khare, found that the institutions deliberately concealed that most successful candidates only attended interview coaching programmes, thereby creating a misleading picture about the effectiveness of their other courses.
Vajirao & Reddy Institute claims to have “617 selections out of 933” in the 2022 exam, while StudyIQ IAS advertises “120 selections” in the 2023 exam.
The survey revealed that most successful candidates from both colleges had only attended interview preparation courses.
StudyIQ IAS has also been unable to substantiate its ‘Success Pakka Offer’ and ‘Selection Pakka Offer’ promotions, failing to provide registration forms and fee receipts to its purported successful candidates. The college advertised more than 60 courses but failed to disclose that the interview coaching course attended by most successful candidates was not advertised.
The consumer rights protection agency has issued 45 misleading advertising notices to various training institutions and has imposed fines $7.16 million from 22 institutions so far.
Under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, advertisements that deliberately conceal important information are classified as misleading advertisements and are punishable.
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