In a significant move aimed at ensuring transparency in India’s coaching industry, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of ₹7 lakh on Vajiram & Ravi IAS Study Centre LLP for publishing misleading advertisements related to the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) results.
The consumer watchdog found that the institute had prominently showcased the names, photographs, and ranks of successful UPSC candidates while failing to disclose a crucial fact — many of these candidates had only participated in its free Interview Guidance Programme (IGP) and not its full-fledged coaching courses.
Following a detailed investigation, the CCPA observed that Vajiram & Ravi had claimed that “8 rank holders in the Top 10” and “37 rank holders in the Top 50” of UPSC CSE 2023 were associated with the institute. However, the inquiry revealed that seven of the eight top-10 candidates and 29 of the 37 top-50 candidates had only enrolled in the free interview guidance programme.
KEY INFORMATION WAS DELIBERATELY CONCEALED
The Authority noted that the Interview Guidance Programme begins only after candidates have independently cleared the highly competitive Preliminary and Mains stages of the examination. Therefore, presenting such candidates alongside advertisements for paid coaching programmes created the impression that their success was primarily attributable to the institute’s classroom coaching.
CCPA held that the institute’s failure to specify whether candidates attended full-time coaching, optional subject classes, test series, or only the interview guidance programme amounted to deliberate concealment of material information. This, it said, violated Sections 2(28) and 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
The regulator also highlighted that over 70–97% of candidates cited in the institute’s success claims across recent years had only attended the Interview Guidance Programme.
The action forms part of a broader crackdown on misleading advertisements in the coaching sector. So far, CCPA has issued more than 60 notices and imposed penalties exceeding ₹1.46 crore on coaching institutes preparing students for UPSC, IIT-JEE, NEET, RBI and other competitive examinations.
