CCPA directs district officials across India to crack down on misleading coaching ads

Summary

For the first time, district magistrates have been told to conduct inspection drives and enforce ad compliance as coaching hubs expand into smaller towns, targeting IAS and UPSC aspirants.

New Delhi: In a first, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has written to district collectors and magistrates across all states and Union Territories, asking them to ensure compliance with guidelines against misleading advertisements by coaching institutes, conduct inspection drives and direct students' grievances to the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), two government officials said.

The move aims to nip such practices in the bud at the district level, as coaching institutes are increasingly expanding their presence by setting up centres in small towns to attract aspirants, including those who cannot afford to move to metropolitan cities for coaching.

The move is significant as India has around 800 districts and its coaching sector for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which conducts the civil services examination to recruit officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and other services, is estimated at ₹3,000 crore, within a broader ₹58,088-crore coaching industry. UPSC civil service exams are conducted in three phases. The first is a preliminary screening test, the marks for which are not counted in the next two phases -- the mains and the personality test.

The Centre has directed district magistrates to enforce two sets of rules: the CCPA's 13 November 2024 guidelines against misleading advertisements, and the 16 January 2024 regulations for coaching centres, both of which apply to IAS and UPSC coaching institutes.

"Following the issuance of the guidelines and action against errant coaching institutes, including the imposition of penalties, their advertising practices have changed significantly in metros," said the first of the two officials cited above. "We have now asked district heads to take action against such institutes because they are better placed to monitor them, given their understanding of local conditions and the advertisements that appear in their districts on a daily basis," this official said.

Queries sent to the consumer affairs department remained unanswered at the time of publishing.

Districts plan inspections

Durga Shakti Nagpal, divisional commissioner, Devipatan division in Uttar Pradesh, told Mint that effective implementation of CCPA guidelines requires a combination of enforcement, transparency and accessible grievance redressal.

"Students and their families often invest their savings and place considerable trust in coaching institutions. In the districts of Devipatan division, we intend to ensure compliance of CCPA norms through regular inspections, scrutiny of advertisements and action against misleading or exaggerated claims. We will also facilitate the redressal of student grievances through the National Consumer Helpline," said Nagpal.

The CCPA has issued more than 60 notices to coaching institutes and imposed penalties exceeding ₹1.46 crore on institutes for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices, according to the latest government data.

"Our objective is to ensure that aspirants choose coaching institutes based on factual information rather than misleading advertisements featuring successful candidates. If a successful candidate was enrolled in a free classroom programme run by a government initiative or offered free of charge by an institute itself, the institute cannot claim that student as its own to mislead aspirants," the second official cited above said.

Before issuing the guidelines, the CCPA had asked the department of personnel and training (DoPT), the cadre-controlling authority for IAS and other civil services, to ensure that successful candidates of UPSC examinations terminate their advertising contracts with coaching institutes after signing their joining letters, as first reported by Mint on 28 November 2023. The move aimed to prevent coaching institutes from continuing to use successful candidates, including toppers, in advertisements to attract future aspirants.

DP Majhi, former director of Dr Ambedkar Foundation, an autonomous body under the ministry of social justice and empowerment, said, "Taking the monitoring of coaching institutes to the district level is a significant step, as district magistrates are better placed to understand local conditions and identify misleading advertisements. The focus should be on ensuring that institutes make transparent claims about their results, disclose the actual role they played in a candidate's preparation and do not take credit for students who enrolled only in test series or free programmes. Effective enforcement will be key to protecting aspirants from being misled."

CCPA guidelines and penalties

The CCPA's guidelines to prevent misleading advertisement in the coaching sector, issued in 2024, prohibit coaching institutes from making false or misleading claims about course duration, faculty qualifications, fees, refund policies, selection rates, examination ranks and success stories. Institutes must disclose relevant details when using successful candidates' photographs in advertisements, including the course they undertook, its duration and whether it was paid or free.

The guidelines also prohibit unsubstantiated claims such as guaranteed selection, assured admission or 100% success rates, and require advertisements to present disclaimers and disclosures prominently. They apply to online and offline coaching advertisements, with endorsers also expected to verify the claims they promote.

Under the norms, the CCPA can impose a penalty of up to ₹10 lakh for a misleading advertisement, rising to ₹50 lakh for subsequent violations. It can also direct advertisers to discontinue or modify misleading advertisements and prohibit endorsers from endorsing products or services for up to one year for a first violation and up to three years for subsequent violations.