The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has launched a ₹ 5 lakh fine on the Shankar IAS Academy for publishing incorrect knowledge associated with the UPSC Civil Service Examination 2022. This decision is intended to protect consumer’s interests and uphold the Consumer Protection Act of 2019, which does not permit deceiving adverts.
CCPA Chief Commissioner, while elaborating on the importance of the post, said that more than 10 lakh students come to appear in the UPSC civil service examination every year. She pointed out that advertisements accessed to the prospective UPSC aspirants should give true representations, unadulterated by any level of hyperbole; the relevant facts should be clearly spelled out.
Shankar IAS Academy’s advertisement mentioned that 336 candidates were selected at the all-India level out of 933, including 40 in the top 100. Of these, 42 are from Tamil Nadu, of which 37 studied in this academy. However, the CCPA’s investigation exposed the fact that some important aspects of the particular courses being offered by these qualitative candidates were not disclosed.
This omission gave consumers the wrong impression that all claimed successful candidates had indeed enrolled in the academy’s paid courses, thereby misrepresenting them. The regulator under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs pointed out that such practices can bias UPSC aspirants, compelling them to pay for such paid courses.
Regarding the CCPA’s findings, Shankar IAS Academy has furnished information for only 333 successful candidates, which is not correct with its previous statements. Out of the 336 candidates, 221 availed themselves of the Free Interview Guidance Programme, while the rest registered for different test series and courses that were never advertised in the first place.
The CCPA described this as a failure to be truthful with consumers, especially those who wished to join civil services but did not understand the role of the academy in the candidates’ achievement.
