A government-constituted committee has observed that there is an urgent need to issue guidelines to curb misleading advertisements in the coaching sector. On January 8, 2024, the
Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) conducted the first meeting of the Committee and discussed the draft of the guidelines, suggesting that the draft should be issued at the earliest.
The guidelines will apply to all coaching institutes, cover both online and physical forms of advertisement regardless of form, format or medium. The guidelines prescribe conditions when an advertisement by a coaching institute shall be construed to be misleading advertisement as defined under the
Consumer Protection Act 2019 which include concealment of important information related to the course opted by the successful candidates
Consumer Affairs Secretary & CCPA's Chief Commissioner Rohit Kumar Singh said that there's a need to ensure no false or misleading advertisement is made of any goods or services which contravenes the provisions of Consumer Protection Act 2019.
While the meeting was chaired by the Consumer Affairs Secretary, it comprised of representatives from the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Ministry of Education, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), National Law University (NLU) Delhi, FIITJEE, Khan Global Studies and Ikigai Law.
The guidelines prescribe the following Do’s and Don’t’s needed to be observed:
> Coaching Institute shall mention requisite information with successful candidate photo
> Rank secured by successful candidate
> Course opted by successful candidate
> Duration of course
> Whether it is paid or free
> Coaching institutes shall not make claim 100% selection or 100% job guaranteed or guaranteed preliminary or mains.
> Font of disclaimer/Disclosure/Important information in the advertisement shall be the same as that used in the claim/advertisement
> Placement of such information shall be at a prominent and visible place in the advertisement.