Journalism of Courage
The regulatory body flagged repeated violations of consumer law by the institute, which coaches civil services aspirantsA penalty of Rs 5 lakh has been slapped on Delhi-based coaching institute Drishti IAS by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) for publishing misleading advertisements related to the results of the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2022. The regulatory body flagged repeated violations of consumer law by the institute, which coaches civil services aspirants.
In a statement, the CCPA highlighted that it has issued 54 notices to coaching institutes over misleading advertisements. Penalties totalling over ₹90.6 lakh have been imposed on 26 institutes, with directions to discontinue misleading claims.
While Drishti IAS (VDK Eduventures Pvt. Ltd.) had advertised “216+ selections in UPSC CSE 2022” with names and photographs of candidates, a CCPA probe found that the claim concealed crucial details about the type and duration of courses taken by these candidates.
According to the CCPA , 162 of 216 candidates had only attended Drishti IAS’s free Interview Guidance Programme (IGP) after independently clearing the preliminary and mains exams. Only 54 candidates had enrolled in the paid courses.
Not revealing such details, said the CCPA, misled aspirants and parents into believing that the institute was responsible for success across all stages of the UPSC exam, which qualifies as a misleading advertisement under Section 2(28) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
This is the second such penalty against Drishti IAS. Last September, the Authority had fined the institute ₹3 lakh for claiming “150+ selections” in UPSC CSE 2021.
It was found that only a fraction of these candidates were enrolled in paid courses.
“Despite being penalised and cautioned earlier, Drishti IAS once again indulged in the same practice for the 2022 examination results,” CCPA said.
The consumer watchdog said such misleading advertisements deprive students and parents of their right to make informed choices under Section 2(9) of the Act.
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