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New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a fine of Rs 8 lakh on Dikshant IAS and Abhimanu IAS for indulging in misleading advertisements, unfair trade practices and violation of consumer rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Till now, CCPA has issued 57 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices. A fine of over Rs 98.6 lakh has been imposed on 27 coaching institutes, along with directions to stop making such misleading claims.
CCPA took cognizance of representations received from successful UPSC candidates whose names and photographs were used without consent in advertisements claiming to take credit for their results.
The CCPA headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra issued final orders against Dikshant IAS and Abhimanu IAS in view of violation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
According to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the decision was taken “to protect and promote the rights of consumers as a class and to ensure that no false or misleading advertisement of any goods or services is carried out in violation of the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.”
In the case of Dikshant IAS, the CCPA received a representation from Mini Shukla (AIR 96, UPSC CSE 2021), who said that her name and photograph were used in the promotional material of the institute without her consent.
She clarified that she was never associated with Dikshant IAS and had only participated in a mock interview at Chahal Academy, which she later learned was conducted jointly with Dikshant IAS.
The CCPA noted that Dikshant IAS had published advertisements claiming “200+ results in UPSC CSE 2021”, which included photographs and names of successful candidates, without disclosing the specific courses taken by them. Despite several opportunities, the Institute was unable to corroborate this claim with credible evidence.
Dikshant IAS claimed that the students had participated in its Interview Guidance Program (IGP) and the program was jointly organized with Chahal Academy.
However, the authority found that Dikshant IAS could submit only 116 nomination forms contrary to its claim of “200+ results”.
It also failed to produce any agreement with Chahal Academy or any evidence to show that students were informed about the joint nature of the programme.
In the case of Abhimanu IAS, a representation by Ms Natasha Goyal (AIR 175, UPSC CSE 2022) revealed that the institute had falsely claimed her as its student and used her name and photograph without authorisation.
Evidence revealed that the institute had shared a question bank with her based on her detailed application form (DAF) for a mock interview which was never conducted.
Despite this, the institute used her name and photograph without consent, which the CCPA deemed misleading and unfair, amounting to an unfair contractual term under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Upon investigation, CCPA found that Abhimanu IAS had also published misleading claims like “2200+ selections since inception”, “10+ selections in IAS Top 10”, and “1st rank in HCS/PCS/HAS”. The advertisements prominently featured photographs and names of successful candidates of various examinations in 2023, including UPSC Civil Services Examination, Haryana Civil Services (HCS), RBI Grade-B and NABARD Grade-A, while hiding important information about the specific courses these candidates had enrolled for.
The CCPA investigation found that the institute had submitted details of 139 claimed selections in various examinations in 2023, out of which 88 students had cleared the Prelims and Mains stages without the assistance of Abhimanu IAS.
The claim of “2200+ selections since inception” was also found to be unsupported, as the institute failed to produce any evidence to authenticate it.
–IANS