The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 7 lakh on Vajiram and Ravi IAS Study Centre for publishing misleading advertisements. The ads claimed credit for candidates who cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2023, but a majority of these candidates had enrolled only in the institute's free interview guidance programme (IGP).
Misleading Claims Unveiled
The regulator found that most candidates cited in the institute's advertisements had enrolled only in the IGP, a short-duration course that begins after candidates have already cleared the Prelims and Mains stages on their own. The institute had claimed on its official website that "8 Rank Holders in the Top 10" and "37 Rank Holders in the Top 50" were from Vajiram & Ravi, and asserted that "every year, more than 30 per cent of the officers selected through UPSC Civil Services Examination are students of Vajiram & Ravi."
Non-Disclosure of Course Details
The CCPA, headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra, found that 7 out of the 8 top-10 rankers and 29 out of the 37 top-50 rankers had enrolled only in the free IGP. This fact was not disclosed in the advertisements. The concealment was not limited to 2023. Data examined by the CCPA revealed a consistent pattern of non-disclosure across multiple years:
- In 2021, 86.36 per cent of the institute's successful candidates had enrolled only in the IGP.
- In 2022, the figure was 78.31 per cent.
- In 2023, it rose sharply to 97.56 per cent.
- In 2024, it stood at 71.69 per cent.
In none of these years was this information disclosed on the institute's official website.
Violation of Consumer Rights
The CCPA noted that the IGP is a short-duration programme that commences only after a candidate has independently cleared both the Preliminary and Mains stages, two highly competitive stages where the institute had no academic contribution. By prominently featuring such candidates alongside advertisements for comprehensive paid coaching programmes, without disclosure of the specific course opted for, the institute created a misleading impression that these candidates were products of its full-length coaching.
The authority held that non-disclosure of the specific courses opted for by successful candidates amounts to a misleading advertisement under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The conduct was found to fall under Section 2(28)(iv), which prohibits deliberate concealment of important information, and violated Section 2(9), which guarantees consumers the right to be informed.
Wider Regulatory Offensive
The order against Vajiram & Ravi is part of a broader regulatory crackdown on the coaching sector. The CCPA has issued more than 60 notices to coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices, and has imposed cumulative penalties exceeding Rs 1.46 crore on institutes offering coaching for examinations such as UPSC CSE, IIT-JEE, NEET, and RBI.
