CCPA Fines IITian's Prashikshan Kendra for Misleading Ads

New Delhi, Feb 14 (PTI) The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on IITian's Prashikshan Kendra (IITPK) for deceptive advertising about its students' success in the IIT- JEE examinations, the government said on Friday.

The authority found that IITPK deliberately withheld information that students were merely toppers within the institute, not at the national level, creating a misleading impression about its success rates.

The institute's ads falsely claimed "IIT Topper" and "NEET Topper" with numbers '1' and '2' mentioned in front of candidate names and pictures. It also claimed "1384 IIT Ranks in the past 21 years by IITPK", misleading consumers into believing that these students exclusively secured admission into IITs, an official statement said.

Without presenting any supporting data or context, IITPK used bold claims such as "Highest success ratio year after year," "Best success ratio for 21 years," and "Success Ratio at 61%" in its advertisements, misleading consumers.

CCPA emphasised that IITPK deliberately concealed information that would have helped students make an informed decision when choosing a course or coaching institute/platform.

The commission imposed a penalty to protect "young and impressionable aspirants" from potentially deceptive marketing practices.

CCPA has so far issued 46 notices to various coaching institutes for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practice. It has imposed a penalty of Rs 77.60 lakh on 24 coaching institutes and directed them to discontinue the misleading advertisements.