New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on civil services coaching institute 'Shankar IAS Academy' located in Karol Bagh in Delhi for misleading advertisement about UPSC exam qualifiers.
It is learnt that the coaching institute publicised wrong data of candidates who cleared UPSC in its advertisements. The coaching institute is accused of manipulating the advertisements in a bid to attract civil services aspirants.
The fine by the Central Consumer Protection Authority has been imposed on the coaching institute keeping in mind the interests of consumers under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act enacted in 2019 so that no misleading advertisement related to goods and services can be done. Nidhi Khare, head of the CCPA, said that according to various reports, about 10 lakh candidates apply for UPSC every year. The advertisement of Shankar IAS was prepared keeping these candidates in mind, Khare said.
Khare said that the academy had resorted to misleading data to make itself look impressive in the 2022 UPSC results. The management had claimed that out of the 933 candidates selected for UPSC in the year 2022, 336 had taken coaching from the academy. It also claimed that 40 out of the top 100 candidates had taken coaching from the academy. The coaching institute also claimed that out of 40 candidates from Tamil Nadu who had passed the exam, 37 took coaching from the institute. Khare said that the investigation found that the academy runs many courses, but it hid the facts during its promotion about the qualifying candidates which created a false impression among the candidates.
