CCPA slaps fines Rs 200,000 on Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study Institute for misleading advertisement

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study Institute for misleading advertisements. According to CCPA, the institute's ads violated the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 by deliberately concealing crucial information about the courses taken by the students it claimed had cleared the prestigious Indian Civil Services Exam (CSE).

The institute's advertisements prominently displayed names and photos of successful candidates and made bold claims such as "13 students in the top 100", "28 students in the top 200", and "39 students in the top 300" in the UPSC CSE 2023. The ads used terms like "Shubhra Ranjan IAS" and "Students of Shubra Ranjan IAS," creating a misleading impression that Shubra Ranjan is or was an IAS officer, which is not the case, as per the official statement.

The CCPA stated that these advertisements deprived consumers of making an informed choice by not properly disclosing the details of the courses that successful students had enrolled in. Consequently, the CCPA has ordered Shubhra Ranjan IAS Study Institute to stop running these misleading ads.

In a related development, on November 22, the CCPA fined Vajirao & Reddy Institute Rs 7 lakh for similar misleading advertisements about the results of the UPSC CSE 2022. To date, the CCPA has issued 45 notices to various coaching institutes, resulting in penalties totaling Rs 63.60 lakh on 20 coaching institutes, and has directed them to discontinue misleading advertisements.

The Department of Consumer Affairs, through the National Consumer Helpline, has actively intervened at a pre-litigation stage to ensure justice for students and aspirants enrolling in the UPSC Civil Services, IIT, and other entrance examinations.