Guidelines To Curb Coaching Institutes From Making Misleading Claims To Be Finalised Soon: CCPA

The draft proposals state that coaching institutes will be required to use similar-sized fonts for the disclaimer as well as the claim advertisement.

In a bid to curb fake and irrelevant claims by coaching institutes, the Consumer protection regulator CCPA has said that it has come up with a set of guidelines underlining ‘dos’ and ‘don'ts’ to keep a tap on overwhelming claims made by coaching institutions. The new draft guidelines shall be approved soon, Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) Chief Commissioner and Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told PTI. 

Singh who headed the committee that drafted the guidelines was further reported as saying that various meetings were held to chalk out the guidelines and the latest one was held on January 8, 2024. Stating that the protection of consumer interest remains a key concern for the CCPA, he further stressed the need for clarity, especially in terms of addressing certain key aspects related to advertisements with respect to coaching centres.

"The committee observed that there is an urgent need to issue the guidelines and the draft as discussed in the (January 8) meeting should be issued at the earliest," an official CCPA statement was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. As per the CCPA, the newly proposed guidelines shall be applicable to all coaching institutes, irrespective of their mode of teaching; online or offline, and the new norms shall also be applicable to all forms of advertising regardless of format, form or medium. 

The draft guidelines reportedly put forth conditions when an advertisement from a coaching institute is found out to be a misleading advertisement under the Consumer Protection Act 2019. Notably, the act also deals with concealing information related to the successful candidates (whether free or paid), like the course chosen, and duration of course, among others. As per the proposed guidelines, coaching institutes should not make any false or misleading advertisement that may lead to consumer misunderstanding or subvert consumer autonomy and choice. 

The guidelines have also been said to also propose a checklist of various Do’s and Don'ts for coaching institutes to follow, before they place any advertisement. What this means is that coaching institutes will also have to mention requisite information along with the photographs of successful candidates. 

Furthermore, coaching institutes can not mention key details like rank, type and duration of course, fee payment mode, and others, the statement added further. Moreover, coaching centres should also refrain from making claims like ‘100 percent selection’ or '100 per cent job guaranteed' or 'guaranteed preliminary or mains'.

Besides these, the proposal also indicates using the font of disclaimers of the same size as the claim advertisement. The CCPA has also clarified that the penalty for misleading advertisements by coaching sector will be governed as per Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the guidelines are just in the nature of clarification to the stakeholders.

(With inputs from PTI)

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