The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a Rs 3,00,000 fine on Vision IAS for misleading advertisements about its students’ success in the civil services examination. According to a statement from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, the authority found that Vision IAS deliberately withheld certain course details, giving the false impression that it had high success rates in these tests.

The advertisement in question claimed '10 in the Top 10 selections in CSE 2020 from various programs of Vision IAS,' accompanied by pictures of successful candidates.

However, the institute’s presentation of the facts was misleading. Only the foundation course completed by the top-ranked student was highlighted by Vision IAS, which did not reveal the particular courses taken by the other nine qualified applicants. In actuality, two of the nine remaining candidates chose the Abhyaas test series, six used test series for the preliminary and mains stages, and one registered in the foundation course.

Due to this selective sharing, it was mistakenly assumed that the top 10 applicants all took the same path, which was untrue. Courses ranged in price from Rs 1,40,000 for a full foundation course to Rs 750 for a mock test. The CCPA emphasised how crucial it is to give consumers—especially young and impressionable candidates looking for coaching for competitive exams—complete and honest course information so they can make educated judgements.

The CCPA has also taken action against additional coaching institutes in addition to the penalty. For deceptive advertising and unfair business practices, 46 notifications have been sent to different institutions thus far. 23 institutions have been fined a total of Rs 74.60 lakh and ordered to stop using deceptive advertising.

Source : DNA India