Coaching institutes often go to great lengths to prove themselves the best in their respective fields, whether it’s medical, engineering, or civil services. However, some overstep by making claims that are not grounded in truth. One such institute, Vision IAS, has been fined Rs 3 lakh for making deceptive claims about its success rate and running misleading advertisements. This action serves as a lesson to other coaching institutes to refrain from violating rules in order to pursue business from the students.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has fined UPSC coaching institute Vision IAS for running misleading advertisements that created a false impression about its success rate in the Civil Services Examination. The institute claimed ’10 in the top 10 selections in CSE 2020 from different programs’ and also published pictures of the successful candidates.
Vision IAS only provided details about the foundation course for the first rank holder, without offering any information about the nine other successful candidates in 2020. Of the nine candidates, six had opted for the test series for both prelims and mains, two chose the Abhyaas test series, and one took the foundation course.
The CCPA found that the institute’s selective disclosure gave a message among students that all opted from the same course, which was a sham. The CCPA was of the view that full course information is important for consumers so they can take decisions regarding institutes.