UPSC Civil Services Exam: Pune IAS coaching institute fined Rs 1 lakh for faking testimonials

NEW DELHI: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a fine Rs 1,00,000 on a Pune-based coaching institute for misleading advertisement and unfair trade practices. The CCPA found IQRA IAS Institute in violation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

The coaching institute on its website had falsely claimed, through testimonials, top-rank holders of UPSC CSE in 2015 and 2017 as their students. The authority found the claims factually deceiving. It also found that the institute also claimed itself as the only coaching academy to have the best faculty from all across the country for providing the best UPSC online prelims test series 2020, thus making it the top UPSC coaching institute within a year in Pune.

Also Read | Kota Suicides: Coaching centres asked to halt conducting NEET, JEE routine tests as suicide cases rise

The institute, which was established in 2018, in its reply to the CCPA said the faculty members of their Pune and Kanpur institute are highly qualified as well as reputed. “The coaching institute has a Google rating of 4.6 out of 5 and the test series for the year 2020 was prepared by their highly skilled faculty, which was an academic success. The advertisement has been removed from its website at present,” the reply submitted.

The CCPA found that the testimonials of UPSC Civil Service examination toppers Tina Dabi all India rank (AIR) 1, Athar Amir Ul Safi Khan AIR 2, Himanshu Kaushik AIR 77 -- all cleared the exam in 2015 -- Saifin AIR 570 in 2017 were hosted on the website of IQRA IAS Institute, which was set up in 2018, thereby deceiving consumers into believing that such successful candidates owe their success to said institution.

“It is imperative to mention that IQRA IAS Institute by making such exaggerated claims not only falsely represented its service by deliberately concealing important information but also conveyed express and implied representation to mislead the class of consumers for deceptively promoting their services. On the other hand, the IQRA IAS Institute nowhere showcased any disclaimer and failed to substantiate other claims made by them,” the CCPA order said.

An advertisement is considered to be valid and not deceitful when it does not mislead consumers by exaggerating the usefulness of the products or services, it said.