This decision is part of a broader effort to clamp down on misleading advertisements in the coaching industry, ensuring that aspirants are not swayed by unverified claims of success.

The CCPA has asked all IAS coaching centers to stop using false testimonials of successful students or fake reviews to grow their coaching business. The regulator has sought comments from stakeholders by 16 March.

This initiative follows the CCPA’s issuance of notices to 31 coaching institutes, including Byju’s IAS, Drishti IAS, and Vajirao & Reddy Institute, for misleading advertisement.

Queries sent to DoPT, CCPA, Vajirao & Reddy Institute, Sriram’s IAS and Drishti IAS were not answered, while Byju’s IAS declined to comment on the issue.

Mint had earlier reported in November 2023 that coaching institutes would no longer be allowed to use the photos or testimonials of toppers or successful candidates of India’s civil services examinations to attract future students for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) coaching.

The CCPA, in its inquiry report, a copy of which was reviewed by Mint, noted that important information such as the course opted or enrollment nature of the course by successful candidates is ‘deliberately’ concealed from consumers (aspirants) in advertisements.

The proposed guidelines, aimed at online and offline centres, will have an impact on the IAS coaching business, which constitutes ₹3000 crore out of the overall coaching business of ₹58,088 crore. Delhi is considered the hub of coaching for UPSC’s civil services examinations.

The draft rules bar coaching centers from making false claims, such as guaranteeing 100% selection in exams conducted by UPSC, and from cherry-picking exceptional cases to create a skewed impression of success.

The centres are required to disclose detailed information about the successful candidates featured in their ads, including the rank, name, duration, and type of course, to avoid any misrepresentation.

“The coaching institutes making false claims regarding success rates, number of selections, or rankings of students in any competitive exam without providing verifiable evidence will come under the purview of misleading advertisement,” the notification said.

The CCPA rules are not in derogation of any other laws that are in force for the regulation of advertisements.

The guidelines have been issued following the constitution of a committee to oversee the misleading advertisements by IAS coaching institutes on 8 December 2023 and a stakeholder consultation by CCPA on misleading advertisements in the coaching sector on 8 January 2024.

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Published: 16 Feb 2024, 06:37 PM IST