CCPA fines Vajirao & Reddy Rs 15 lakh for misleading UPSC ads

Metro India News | NEW DELHI

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a Rs 15 lakh penalty on Delhi-based coaching centre Vajirao and Reddy Institute for publishing misleading advertisements regarding the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2023 results. This is the second time in two years that the institute has faced action for similar violations.

Following the declaration of UPSC CSE 2023 results on April 16, 2024, the institute claimed on its website that it had secured “over 645 selections out of 1,016 vacancies”, including “6 in Top 10 AIR” and “35 in Top 50 AIR”. These figures were promoted alongside advertisements for its regular classroom programmes, suggesting that the successful candidates had undergone complete preparation at the institute across all three stages — Preliminary, Mains and Interview.

However, an inquiry by the CCPA found that many of the candidates featured in the advertisements had enrolled only for the Interview Guidance Programme or mock interview sessions. This indicated that they had already cleared the Preliminary and Mains stages independently before approaching the institute.

The authority also noted discrepancies in documentation. As many as 431 enrolment forms did not specify the course joined and lacked dates, and the institute failed to provide fee receipts or supporting records to validate its claims. The CCPA stated that withholding such information created a false impression that the institute had trained all the successful candidates from the beginning of their preparation.

Earlier, the institute had been fined Rs 7 lakh for similar misleading claims related to UPSC CSE 2022 results. Citing the repeat violation, the authority imposed a higher penalty this time.